Loving Madness
by Jinxing The World
Summary: Six years after the slaying of the Jabberwocky, Alice finds herself out of place and lonely. She misses her friends and craves something she shouldn't...the love of her friend Tarrant, The Mad Hatter. As she fights to return to and belong in the land she loves, odd occurances and dreams threaten to change bonds and her Wonderland forever. AlicexHatter. Updates as much as possible.
1. Just A Dream

Hello there! I'd like to welcome you to my first ever Alice in Wonderland Fanfiction! Writing a story for these two is long over-due I'm afraid, so I hope you enjoy my story. As I said it will be updated weekly, but if I get ten reviews on this chapter I will update tomorrow as well as Saturday. Sound good? Of course here is the obligatory disclaimer. I do not own Alice in Wonderland, that right goes to Lewis Carrol, and I do not own Alice in Wonderland the film, that right goes to Tim Burton. If I owned the rights to the film, Alice would have stayed with the Hatter and they would have had a hot and steamy make out scene at the end of the movie... Now that that's cleared up... Please Enjoy, Read and REVIEW!

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><p>After returning from her trip to Underland, Alice had become a very prominent and wealthy business woman. As an apprentice to the company in which her father had built, she had done well for herself. She now owned her own home, a fair sized cottage not far from her mother's residence, and had almost everything she could have possibly ever wanted in life. Her wealth had given her every material thing she could have ever wanted as well as trips to far away exotic lands. She had gone to countries such as China, France, Russia, and even remote colonies with Lord Ascot and his company, and had seen things she had never before seen. It was all quite thrilling to her, and left her with much to do.<p>

Unfortunately now, six years had passed since her reemergence from the rabbit hole, and she had been feeling for quite a while now that something was missing in her life. She knew what it was that she was missing, but of course would never admit it to anyone… she was lonely. Her mother had been trying to marry her off since she was nineteen, and her sister's reminders that her pretty face wouldn't last forever had plagued her thoughts for the last few years. She was now Five-and-Twenty, and knew that most men would never marry a woman a day over Twenty-One. This fact was both sobering and heartening to her. On one hand, she didn't want to end up like Aunt Imogene… old, alone, and completely delusional, but on the other hand, she didn't want to be thrown into a loveless marriage… If that happened she would surely be depressed, lonely, and absolutely insane.

Every time a suitor took interest in her, Alice always tried to keep her manners and be kind, but for some reason she couldn't help but slight them somehow. She didn't consciously try to do it, but the fact that she found little to nothing she liked in any of these men caused her to react to them in a not-so-courteous manner. Sometimes she didn't know what was wrong with her. Logically she knew that getting married was important, but her heart and emotions told her otherwise. She had always known that she wasn't meant for the men that sought after her… she knew that neither her nor they would ever find happiness in their union… no, she needed someone who would understand her and the way her mind worked, and they needed mindless women to do their bidding. She hadn't truly noticed it before now, but at the moment she was thinking clearly… she couldn't love the men that sought her because she loved another.

Deep in her heart she had known this since the moment she left Underland and returned to the orderly world of the Upperland. She couldn't love because she already did love. Her true love was Underland, its chaos, its sights, and perhaps most importantly its people and beings.

She still dreamed of it at night… sometimes she would just be there, talking to her friends and enjoying life, and other times her journey began down the rabbit hole. She had dreamed a million times of returning there and having her friends greet her with open arms… they had accepted her in her dreams the same way they always had since her childhood, with smiles, kind words, and riddles. She missed them all, but the one she missed most, she feared, was the reason why she could never get married… She missed the Hatter.

She had never missed someone so much in her life the way she had missed him… his alabaster skin, mood adjusting eyes, and thick brogue accent… she had noticed all those things about him when she was nineteen, and had been, of course, attracted to him, but now that she was older, she found herself falling in love… She laughed at the thought as she sat alone at her kitchen table with a cup of tea in her hand, "In love with a mad man who I haven't seen in six years…"

Still, she could not help herself but to think about him. She had always wondered what his bright orange hair would feel like between her fingers, and how soft his lips would feel against hers. She knew the thoughts were impossible, but she was always the type to think of the impossible. It was a trait she had earned from her father… she also believed he was the source of her borderline madness, and her muchness.

She sipped her tea calmly and quietly, but her mind was the opposite of her outward appearance… her mind raced with the thoughts of returning to Underland. She so badly wanted to return, but was unable to think of a way to find her way there. She supposed she could just search endlessly in the woods for a rabbit hole and hope that she found the correct one… but it seemed like a highly unlikely plan with a extremely low success rate. The business mind in her told her it was impossible and would never work, but the dreamer in her told her that she would eventually find a way to return to her friends.

After noticing how late it had gotten, Alice stood up from her empty table and went to her equally as lonely bedroom. There she lay down and fell asleep… into her dreams of the pure insanity and chaos that she loved so much.

_She was in her bedroom, which she supposed was a curious place to dream about. She wondered why one would dream about the place in which they were sleeping, which led her to wonder if she was actually truly sleeping at all. There was the loud ticking of clocks all around her, and when she looked around to see where it was coming from, she saw herself sleeping in bed. "Curiouser and curiouser", she said as she walked away from her sleeping self. She was curious as to where exactly she was, she knew it wasn't Underland, but it wasn't her home either. The only thing that looked remotely familiar to her was a door… it was one that had always been locked when she found herself at the entrance of Underland, but now in a world of darkness it seemed like the only place to go. She took a deep breath and hoped that the door wasn't locked._

_Luckily for her it wasn't, and she opened the door to reveal a beautiful rose garden. There were roses of all colors and the air was perfumed with the light smell of roses. She couldn't help herself but to pick one as she walked in through the door. She knew she had something to do here, but she was unsure what it was… she had never had this dream before._

_She walked down the cobblestone path of the Garden until she was greeted with a familiar sight. A too large top hat and lace cuffs greeted her along with a bright smile and a pair of gleaming green eyes._

"_Hatter!" She shouted as she ran towards him. She had missed him so, and even if it was only a dream, she couldn't pass up the chance to see him… even if only for a few moments. She made her way to him as fast as he feet could carry her, and was almost to him when she tripped._

_Luckily, he was at an arm's reach and caught her up in his arms before she could fall down. "Alice!" He shouted as he caught her and wrapped her up in his arms, "You remembered me! How I've missed you!" And missed her he had… since her departure from Underland, he had been terribly lonely. He had recently spent his time doing little other than hatting and thinking about her. After a few moments he loosened his grip on her and began to speak of the business that had brought him here. "Alice you must return to us!" He said imploringly, trying to use what was left of his limited time wisely._

_She knew it was just a dream, but she couldn't help but feel the need to speak to him as if he were real. "Oh Hatter, I want to come back to all of you… But…"_

"_But…" He said cutting her off, "You won't…" He knew that either she wouldn't remember him at all, or she would remember but not return. Even thinking this, he had still gone… still taken the chance that maybe, just maybe, she would want to return to him. He frowned and turned away from her. He tried to understand her decision, but the madness within him rose to the top and blocked what little rationality he had. He tried to make what he was saying coherent and calm, but he couldn't help but speak quickly and angrily in his thick accent, "You don't want to return do you Alice… you don't truly miss the madness… you don't want it! Why would you in your perfectly rational world, with your rules and tea without rabbits. Don't lie and say you miss it to make me happy, just do wha…"_

"_Hatter! Please!" She shouted trying to calm him down. She always feared what would happen if he completely lost his grip on his mind, so when he got like this, she would do anything to calm him. She walked over and touched his arm, but he quickly threw her off._

"_Don't call me that!" He growled at her, further losing his temper and sanity, "A Hatter is an occupation Alice… I am not a job to be done! I am a man Alice, a man! Tarrant! Tarrant Hightopp!"_

_She could barely believe how mad he had gotten in just a few moments time; he had gone from calmly speaking to screaming in only a few moments time. She knew she needed to stop him, but was unsure of how to do it. Using his real name seemed to be a good start. "Tarrant! Please stop!" She pleaded feeling as though she were about to cry. His name felt odd on her tongue, she had never called him anything but Hatter before, and now regretted never asking him his true name. Despite their current circumstances she liked his name. Tarrant… it sounded lovely, and it suited him well. She thought it odd that she would be able to think up such an odd and fitting name herself being that this was just a dream._

_He calmed slightly as he heard her say his name. No one ever called him Tarrant, except his fellow members of the mad tea party and the White queen on occasion, so he was unsure of why he insisted she use it. He had never had a problem with her calling him Hatter before, but now that she had said it, he wanted to hear her say it a million times. There was just something about the fact that his name, his true and given name, had come out of her lips… it comforted him._

"_Tarrant… please, I want to go back to Wonderla…Underland with you!" What she said was true; she truly did want to return with him. She missed him, and even though he was acting like this, she still missed him terribly. More than anything she wanted to return there with him, to see her friends and live the life she would never receive in the Upperland._

_He exhaled quickly, finally allowing himself to be reassured by her words. She wanted to return… she had even slipped up and almost called it Wonderland. He remembered her calling it as such when she was a child; it had annoyed the White Rabbit Nivens McTwisp and Absolem, but he had always found it rather endearing. That was all it took for his small amount of sanity to return to him. "Alice!" He said trying his hardest to focus, "Why is a raven like a writing desk?"_

_She noticed that he had calmed himself, and sighed in relief. She knew that it was unnecessary to answer his question, and instead decided to finish their previous conversation. "I want to go back, but I can't find the rabbit hole." She said quickly, hoping he would understand._

"_Is that all Alice?" He asked curiously, he had actually come to her in order to tell her how to return. He wished he wouldn't have gotten so upset just a few moments ago, because if he hadn't, he may have had a few extra moments to just speak with her about whatever he wished. "Follow Absolem."_

"_Absolem?" She asked, curious as to how Absolem would help her rediscover the rabbit hole._

"_Don't tell me you've forgotten him." Tarrant said raising one caterpillar like orange eyebrow._

"_No, of course I remember Absolem…" She said calmly, "I was just curious as to how he'll help me find the entrance to Underland…"She hadn't truly seen the blue caterpillar since before the Frabjous day on which she slew the jabberwocky, but she believed she had seen him once before her ship departed London for her adventures in China. Since then, she hadn't even seen a blue butterfly…_

"_Follow Absolem Alice." He said without further explanation and looked behind himself. "We haven't much time."_

"_Much time for what? This is a dream… it isn't real… we have all the time we want." She was confused, why wouldn't they have much time? Was she about to wake up? She didn't want to wake up. Even if this was all just a dream, she wanted more time with the Hatter…_

"_I wish I had time to explain Alice…" He said with a rueful grin. "It is a dream, but I assure you it's very real…"He felt himself begin to fade out and away from her. His last words were, " Fairfarren Alice… Follow Absolem!"_

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><p>I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Remember that ten reviews gets you two chapters this week! ^_^ Fairfarren for now!<p> 


	2. Starry Night

I've decided to post this early because my first two reviewers were absolutely and totally lovely people! I may have only gotten two reviews out of the ten I said it would take for me to post a new chapter, but their amazing comments brightened my downcast day. Their two reviews were ten in my mind! So, here you go, a new chapter today, and the promise of a new one on Saturday! Please enjoy!

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><p>"Wait!" Alice shouted as everything went black. When Tarrant disappeared, her dream dimmed and faded away. It was as if he was the only source of light in her dream world. She felt like she was falling… falling the same way she had down the rabbit hole. At first she was afraid, but then she hit something.<p>

The something she hit saddened her even more, it wasn't the bottom of the rabbit hole, but instead a something soft. She found that the soft something was just her bed, in her bedroom, in her world. She exhaled sharply, "It was just a dream Alice." She chided herself for wishing for more.

It was still dark out, and the only light in her room was supplied by the moon shining through her open window. Her mother would have scolded her for such, but she couldn't help herself. She loved the cool feeling of the midsummer night's air on her skin, it always seemed to calm her into sleep and sweeten her dreams. The moonlight entered her room in an ethereal beam of silvery white light, and to her she felt as if she could simply reach out and touch it.

She got out of bed and walked to the window in only her nightgown. The window was large and high which allowed a lot of light to enter her room. A differently willed woman would have simply closed the curtains and gone back to sleep, but Alice was not like other women. She found herself transfixed by the glow of the moon and drunken on the night air. The moon was full, and there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. It was a bit cold out, but Alice could not will herself to move and get a jacket or even a blanket when she saw the beauty of the night. Hundreds, thousands, and perhaps millions of stars littered the heavens tonight and let out their twinkling, shining light.

She stood there for a few moments in pure awe, the last time she had seen the stars so bright had been as a child, sitting on the roof with her father. He had taught her the constellations and the superstitions of the night. He had taught her to wish upon the stars and believe in the impossible, both were lessons that she was endlessly thankful for. She spotted Ursa major and the stars that made up the constellation Draco. She had liked Draco when she was young, but now she found herself displeased with it… it simply reminded her too much of the Jabberwocky.

Her eyes then drifted to Aries, and the outlier star for the constellation Gemini. She remembered her father telling her that Gemini could not be seen in full in London until winter, but she so wished that she could see her favorite twins right that moment. She wondered how the Tweedle brothers had been, and couldn't help but miss their odd activities… Though she hadn't been extremely close with them, she still missed the twins and their shared looks and actions.

Before she could look for the next constellation a light streaked the sky. A shooting star, her father had called it. She smiled up at the star remembering her father's words, " Shooting stars are meant to wishes Alice!" he had told her with the goofy grin he had reserved only for his youngest daughter. She remembered his insistence that she wish upon that star, but not tell him the wish… he told her that telling someone what she wished for would only ruin the magic. She never told anyone what she had wished for that night and quite honestly she couldn't remember exactly what she had wished for herself. The only thing she remembered was that the night after that she had begun to get the same dream over and over again… the dream of Underland… the dream made a reality that she now wanted to return to…

She closed her eyes shut and whispered her wish to herself, "I want to return to my Wonderland…" That wish was the biggest wish in her heart; she would do anything to return to her friends in the world that understood her better than her world could. She kept her eyes shut, hoping for something… anything to happen. She wanted to feel as though she were falling, floating, tingling, anything to show her that she was on her way to Underland…But no such feeling came.

She reopened her eyes and stared again out into the nighttime sky, she wanted so badly for her wish to be granted that she nearly screamed out to the stars. She felt as though they owed her a favor, she had asked so little of them, and yet they and the rest of the world had asked so much of her. They had almost asked too much of her when she returned home, so now the fact that they refused to grant her wish angered her. "Please…It's no little to ask for." She whispered softly to the stars, "Just give me a sign…" She felt half mad for speaking to the stars, but told herself that even if she were half mad, it wouldn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore unless she could get back to her friends…get back to Underland and the man she loved…

Yes, that was it, she truly did love him. She had realized that in the dream, she loved him so much that it hurt a little to be away from him… They had never kissed, never truly touched, and had only ever hugged once or twice. Their love was the love of mad minds and broken hearts… but she longed to make it also a love of the flesh… She blushed at her own thoughts… he may not even love her back, at this point it was merely speculation on her part that made her believe that their love could ever even be possible. Yet, she loved him, fully and deeply, and she wanted to see him again… She was driving herself half mad thinking of him, but again it didn't matter, because he was mad too, and if she was able to see him again, she wouldn't judge him for it.

She was completely and totally disappointed…She tried to tell herself that wishes took time, and that maybe something good would happen, but there was an incessant nagging voice in the back of her head that told her wishes didn't come true… that it was impossible… "Maybe it's because I said it out loud…" She muttered to herself as she went to turn around and return to her bed. She was just going to go back to bed and try to sleep when something out the window caught her eye. A flash of color had broken the beam of moonlight.

The culprit who broke the beam was now sitting on her window sill, saying and doing nothing… It was a butterfly with bright blue and black wings. She could hardly believe what she was seeing and rubbed her eyes for good measure… was she dreaming, or was it truly there? "Absolem?" She asked in a curious half-whisper, "Is that you?"

The butterfly, of course, said nothing, but flapped its wings slowly. It sat there in its calm silence letting her decide what to do next.

She walked closer to the window sill and set her hand down, palm up in front of the butterfly. It did not fly away like any normal insect would have, but instead it crawled onto her open palm and flapped its wings slightly faster. "Absolem?" She asked again, a bit louder. She was curious now, she had only seen a blue butterfly once before in her life, and that was the butterfly she had suspected to be Absolem on the boat she had taken to China. She supposed that she may just be overreacting, and that there may be plenty of butterflies in colors she had never seen, or had only seen once… but the dreamer in her seriously doubted it.

The butterfly then fluttered its wings faster and rose up and off her hand. It hovered there flapping leisurely for a few moments, then took off out her open window.

Alice was unsure of what to do next… on one hand it was positively insane to follow after a butterfly in the middle of the night wearing only a nightgown, but at the same time, insanity no longer worried her… what worried her was the thought of never again seeing her friends… The hatter had told her to follow Absolem… could this be what he meant? She had little time to debate the matter because the butterfly was already starting to fly away in the direction of the woods near her home. Without another thought, Alice did a truly mad thing… she jumped out of her window and landed on the wet grass of her back lawn.

She was suddenly glad that her bedroom was on the ground floor of her two floored home as she sprinted off after the butterfly. She remembered how as a child she had tried to catch butterflies by hand, but never succeeded because they were simply too fast to catch. At this rate, she would have rather tried catching the white rabbit. Entering the woods, she wished for her boots that she had left next to her bed, her feet hurt from the rocks and twigs on which she stepped. Her nightgown was torn and muddied as she ran after the fast moving butterfly, but she didn't care how she looked. Bits of hair loosened themselves, and she felt it tugged on by leaves and branches of trees.

As they crossed a creek she nearly fell, but luckily righted herself at the last moment. This succeeded in soaking the bottom of her nightgown which made it cling to her legs, making it even more difficult to run. She was oblivious to the world around her as she ran, oblivious to the tree branches tugging at her hair, oblivious to the dirt that covered her, oblivious even to the pain in her legs from running so fast over such uneven ground… all she saw was the butterfly and the possibility of where it may be taking her. Never once did she think that it was just simply a butterfly, and that it may just run her into oblivion and back… no all her thoughts were of it bringing her to Underland and returning her to her friends that she loved so much.

After what seemed like hours, the butterfly finally circled and stopped in an area that Alice had never seen before. It was a relatively small area of grass and ferns next to a small brook. There was a large rotting log covered with toad stools, mushrooms, and moss in the small area, as well as a large stone. Again, a different woman would have run for fear of snakes or spiders, but Alice was not most women. She crouched down and searched on hand and knee for the reason she had run so far…

She searched and searched through the grass and the surrounding area, but found nothing. Once every bit of ground was thoroughly searched in the general area, Alice began to feel sick. She was unsure whether she felt sick from all the running she had just done, or whether she felt sick from disappointment… Either way, she found herself alone, cold, and utterly and completely lost with no guide other than a blue butterfly. She sat down on the large rock, hang her head, and began to softly cry… she had lost her muchness again… and she had nothing, no one, to help her get it back.

"Under the log… you stupid girl…" A much missed, but extremely annoyed voice said from beside her.

Alice wiped her tears away on her hand and turned to look at the area from which the voice had come. Sitting on a fern just a few inches from where she sat, was the blue butterfly. "Absolem?" She asked for the third time that night.

"Yes, of course it's me you stupid girl… who else?" He asked while flapping his wings slowly.

She didn't see a mouth moving on his person, but knew better than to ask him how he was speaking to her. Absolem had always been difficult to deal with, and she judged by his tone that that had not changed in her six years without him. She opened her mouth, but was cut off before she could mutter even a word.

"It was a rhetorical question stupid…" He drawled, and she expected to see a puff of blue-gray smoke escape into the air. "The entrance is under the log."

"Under the log…?" She repeated, no exactly sure whether or not she had heard him correctly.

"Yes, the log… do I have to do everything for you?" He half told, half asked with his usual unfeeling arrogant tone.

She could hardly contain her happiness, she was returning, and she would be able to see all of the friends that she had missed so terribly! She ran over to the log and shoved it with all her strength. At first, it barely moved, but after a firm shove to dislodge it, it rolled out of the way. "This isn't the same tunnel I used before…" She said aloud, more to herself than Absolem.

"Well of course it isn't! Did you think we only had one entrance? It works the same as the other… just jump down it and try not to break anything." He muttered.

Alice smiled, what he had just said was perhaps the closest thing to caring she had ever heard come out of his mouth. She couldn't help but like Absolem, even if he did constantly insult her. She supposed that the insults were just the way he showed his love… maybe he was just bad at showing his feelings. With that she smiled a bit larger and stood up. "Thank you Absolem." She said as she approached the hole.

"Stupid Girl." He called after her as she jumped down the hole.

As she fell she laughed and supposed that that was the way that he said, "You're welcome."

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><p>Hope you liked this chapter, I enjoyed writing it and had fun involving my outside knowledge and love of constellations and the outdoors. I feel as though its a tad bit cliffy, but don't worry you'll get an update soon! Please Please Please review! I hate to beg, but its what keeps me writing. I respond to every review and personally thank all my reviewers. I'd love to hear from you!<p> 


	3. The Fall

Hello there! Here's the new chapter as promised :D It's midnight on Friday here so that means by the time I post this it will be Saturday! I hope you enjoy this, I rewrote a lot of it multiple times because I wasn't happy with it. I'm still not entirely happy with it, but it's far better than when I started.

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><p>As she fell, she was less afraid than she was the last time she had come. It was still nerve wracking to fall for what felt like hundreds of feet without a rope or any feeling of control, but knowing that she would be okay when she hit the bottom made her worry slightly less. She watched as objects whizzed past her. There were many different things: beds, clocks, books, bookshelves, paints, art supplies, perfume bottles, candles, dirt, rocks, plants, tapestries, and more things that she couldn't see or recognize. It was like a giant junk drawer where the universe dumped its unneeded, unwanted, unclaimed, or lost things. She did her best to dodge everything as she made her way down the hole, but it was very difficult to direct where exactly she was falling. She ran into a few books and hit the mattress of a bed, but overall did far better than her last fall.<p>

Finally came the part she most dreaded, pain shot through her already damaged, badly cut and bruised body when she broke through the floor-ceiling of the room. She braced herself for more pain when the room righted itself and she fell to the true floor. She had forgotten a bit how badly it hurt to fall from such a height… As she stood up, she felt dizzy, and she was ninety percent sure that something in her back had cracked. It took her a few moments to right her balance before she stepped over to the table. It was, unfortunately, not the way she remembered it. The table had only a key upon it, and it lacked the blue "drink me" bottle that she had learned upon her last visit was called Pishsalver. Unsure of what exactly to do, she took the key and tried the small door she had gone through last time. The key was useless in it, it would not open it… She tried the door next to it, and ended up with the same result. She would have panicked if not for the fact that the fourth door she tried opened immediately.

She swung open and stepped out of the door, finding herself in the same place the small door had once opened into. The tall flowers were off the path, some sleeping, some talking and whispering to the others. There were no rocking-horse-flies, nor did she see the dodo bird, or any of her friends… everything was relatively silent, as night should be… even in a mad place.

Six years had defiantly affected her ability to navigate the paths here, especially at night. She considered asking one of the flowers for directions to the castle or the mad tea party, but decided against it. It seemed as though, thus far, no one had noticed her arrival. It was late, and she didn't want to be a bother, or make a fuss, so she tried to keep it that way. The flowers didn't even notice her walk down the trail… they were too absorbed in each other and what Alice thought was, no doubt, gossip.

So she decided to walk the paths alone, at least until she found someone that she knew to either keep her company or show her the way to where she was going. She was actually unsure of where she even planned to go, she wanted to see everyone. She wanted to see The White Queen, Bayard and his family, Chess, Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum, Thackery, Maliumpkin ,The White Rabbit, and of course, The Mad Hatter, or as he called himself in her dream… Tarrant Hightopp.

She was curious as to whether or not the dream had been real. It certainly felt real, and much of what happened tonight had been predicted by or alluded to in the dream. In part she was just happy to be back and didn't care whether or not her dream had been more than just a figment of her imagination, but another part of her was extremely inquisitive.

She decided to not worry about it for the moment, and instead wandered down the most familiar path she could find. The path took her to yet another familiar location, the cross roads where Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum had once argued about which direction to walk. She now asked herself the same question they had asked each other on the day of her last arrival six years ago… "East to queast or South to snud…" she asked herself with a laugh, "Was that what they had said?" She chuckled at her remembrance, but found no use in it. She had no idea what Queast or Snud were, and at the moment she wasn't even sure where east and west were. Her only directions were left, right, up, and down. It reminded her of all her times at sea and how she had felt on her various voyages.

When she had been out to sea, she had seen nothing but endless blue-green water. There had been water in front of and behind her as well as to the right and the left as far as the eye could see. Her compass had been the only thing keeping her sane and oriented during that time, and without it she wouldn't have known up from down by the end of the voyage. She wished she had her compass now, she could have grabbed it, as well as so many other things she now wished for, before running off to chase Absolem. In hind sight, she probably could have packed things to bring with her, and Absolem would have probably waited for her… But it was too late to think of all that now… She was here, and she had only what she had brought, which was nothing more than the clothing on her back. She wondered whether or not her compass would have even worked in Underland. A compass was an instrument of rationality and order; perhaps it wouldn't even work in a land so strange and seemingly random.

Turning her back on the signs and ignoring them completely, Alice walked down the path that looked more familiar to her. The path was darkened by the shadows of overhead trees that choked out what little moon and starlight she had to see by. The trees got increasingly thicker, and the light increasingly dimmer as she walked deeper and deeper into what she now saw was Tugley Wood.

It was pitch black in the place where she now stood, and despite herself, Alice was afraid. The last thing she needed was to be lost in the forest and attacked by God only knew what creature that could be lurking in the woods. At first she thought of the fearsome Bandersnatch with its sharp teeth and claws which left marks that never healed unless properly treated… but then she told herself that she could not fear the beast. It had only attacked because it had been brainwashed and tortured by the Red Queen and her court… no, the Bandersnatch was not a creature from the woods that she should fear, it had instead become her ally and friend. Her thoughts then switched to the innately evil creature that would never again lurk in the woods of Underland… The Jabberwocky… For its evil, she could give no explanation other than that it was simply the beast that naturally harbored and embodied cruelty. She had no remorse for its death, and she hoped that as she walked through the woods, she would not find another creature so despicable.

"Hello love." A loud drawling voice said from behind her.

She knew that voice and smiled lightly, she would not turn around and play his game of disappearance and apparition… no she would just speak to him and wait for him to meet her eye himself. "Hello Chess!" She said with a grin, truly happy to see… well hear… someone that she remembered, "How have you been?"

He appeared to her left side this time, but she still did not turn to look at him, and instead kept her eyes faced forward as he replied. "Oh dear, I've been fine… but I've missed you terribly." He answered in his usual dramatics.

"I've missed you too." She admitted with a bit of a grin as two huge blue eyes and a large sharp-toothed grin appeared before her.

He had gotten bored with appearing and disappearing without her participation, and decided it would be better and far more enjoyable to just speak with her face to face. "How is it that you always find yourself lost in my 'neck of the woods', so to speak?" He asked curious as the kitten he was under all of his looks and dramatics.

She couldn't help but laugh, she did have a bit of a tendency to bump into him whilst being lost in the forest. Actually, she had bumped into him almost every time she had come to Underland, including her last visit. "I wouldn't say lost… It's just that I wander." She paused a moment to try and recall a saying she had once heard, "Not all that wander are lost."

The Cheshire cat gave her one of his usual characteristic smiles, and replied quickly. "Yes, but all that are lost do wander." He had always been one of the quickest witted, sanest, and most intelligent beings in all of Underland, and six years hadn't dulled his sharp mind in the least. Alice had once theorized that Chess was saner than the white queen, more creative than the Hatter, more intelligent than Absolem, and more omniscient than the Oraculum, but was simply too lazy to seriously put any of it to work. She had been the same way as a child, a lazy genius more content to day dream than to actually do anything important. "Either way dear, these woods are incredibly dangerous… a young lady should not be wandering around alone in here." He continued in a tone that made her unsure whether or not he was serious.

"What do I have to fear in these woods?" She asked more out of curiosity than worry. She had slain the Jabberwocky, and even if she had no weapon now, she felt far from defenseless.

"Holes in the trail you could trip over, precariously teetering broken branches, slippery stones in streams…creatures evil beyond your wildest imagination… you know what everyone fears in the forest." He drawled in a more comical than serious way.

"Well I don't fear any of those things… I had to deal with them on my way to the entrance in the Upperland… except of course the creatures. Do tell me more about the creatures."

"You haven't changed much Alice, curious as ever…" He mused while thinking of all the thousands of questions she had asked as a child. "There are a few evil creatures in these woods, but they would prefer I didn't mention them… fear of being slain or maimed and all…"

"Why would they be afraid of that?" She joked sarcastically. She wondered whether or not there were actual creatures and whether or not they truly feared her… it was always hard to tell with Chess's odd sense of humor.

"I haven't a clue." He responded with a laugh, but then grew slightly more serious. "Where were you wandering to Alice?" He asked as her appeared nearer to her legs and rubbed his face against them. Sometimes the way he acted reminded Alice more of a fat house cat than of a highly intelligent spectral being.

"I'm not exactly sure… I wanted to visit Tar… the Hatter, Maliumpkin, and the March Hare, but I also have to see the Queen eventually…" She mentally slapped herself for the almost slip-up. She still wasn't sure if that dream had been just a dream or if it had been more, and at the moment she didn't want to risk sounding insane… or worse, stupid…

"Well, the tea party is closer… of course you know that, but I suppose you still need the directions from me and my evaporating skills?" He half asked, half stated. He already knew that she would need directions; she always had, and probably would for quite a while longer. He had a feeling that she was here to stay, one that he didn't voice, but instead kept inside. If she was staying, he couldn't help but feel a small surge of happiness… even though he had always messed with her, he liked Alice. She had always been kind to him, and gave a very nice ear-scratch. She was also one of the few in Underland that could match his wit.

"Yes please." She responded and reached out for his back. As long as he was being civil and helpful, she would scratch him in reward. She knew that she could make him melt like any ordinary cat with just a slight petting and a few scratches, but she enjoyed it a bit herself. Her mother had never really let her have cats except for a few that lived outside, so it was a bit of a treat for her to wrap her fingers in soft warm fur. Chess's fur had always been the softest, which Alice attributed to the fact that he could evaporate, but it was still soft and very solid now as he floated ahead down the path, in front of her, but never too far away that she had to stop petting him.

They wound their way down the trail slowly but surely as Alice petted Chess and enjoyed the sights of the forest. It had changed in her time away… small trees had grown larger, old trees had fallen, just as they did in the forests of the Upperland. She recognized a few things here and there, a familiar rock, or a bend in the trail she thought she remembered. Her memories were fuzzy, but they were returning slowly but surely.

After approaching another part of the path that looked familiar to her, Alice asked a question that she had been asking herself over the last six years. "How have things been here since… since the Red Queen fell?" She had been curious on how things had been in Underland since her first year in the Upperland. She had seriously hoped that nothing bad had befallen her friends or the other beings of their world. She had seen no signs of distress or complications yet, but she supposed something could have happened previous to her arrival, or something was happening, but she had not yet encountered it.

The cat grinned lazily as if it was difficult for him to muster the energy to think while being petted. He thought for a few moments then answered her question, "The White Queen has done a 'royally' good job at ruling Underland. There isn't and hasn't been any turmoil or conflict under her reign and her subjects adore her… and I'm afraid she has grown on me as well…" He purred in contentment .Alice was unsure whether he purred at the mention of the Queen, or if she had just found a sweet spot whilst petting him. After a moment he continued, " The bloody big headed one and her Stayne haven't been seen or heard from other than in quick glances, echoes, and whispers… so everything has gone well… with an exception…"

Alice was more than happy to hear that all had been well. She was overjoyed that everything was okay and that there was no new demon to face… but she supposed she should not speak so soon… He had said that there was an exception to the overall good wellbeing of Underland, and using her opportunity wisely she wished to learn of that exception. "An exception?" She asked with her usual curiosity and inquisitiveness.

"Yes my dear, an exception… and I'm afraid you may not like it…" He trailed off and grudgingly pulled away from her hand. He moved in front of her and looked up into her eyes with the most caring expression she had ever seen him muster.

"What's the exception Chess?" She asked him rather confused. Of course she would be worried and upset about any exception to the wellbeing and happiness of Underland, but the way he had said it worried her. He said it in a way that made it seem that the exception was much more personal to her than just a problem somewhere in Underland. She hoped and prayed that it was nothing too serious, that no one had died or that the Jabberwocky had returned… She hoped that she had just overreacted or misread his actions. But the look he gave her as they neared the end of the trail told her that it was truly something serious.

"The Hatter."

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><p>Hey there! Thanks for reading it means a lot to me :D Please review and favorite. 10 signed reviews or 15 reviews total (signed or unsigned) gets you the next chapter early. If not I'll post it next Saturday! Sorry if this was a cliff hanger... it seems that I simply can't help myself...<p> 


	4. Arrival, Tugley Wood, and the Windmill

I'm so sorry about the lateness and shortness of this, but at least its posted right? I had wicked writers block and I'm sorry if parts of it don't make total sense, but trust me it'll be explained later.

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><p>"The Hatter?" Alice asked with fear in her voice. What could have happened to the hatter? Was he hurt? Was he sick or in pain? Or worse… she shuddered to think about it. No, there was no way he was dead… she knew that if he were dead she would never again be able to function. In her dream, the hatter… well rather the man who called himself Tarrant, had looked very alive. He had been seemingly well, and other than his usual paleness, had shown no signs of sickness… But perhaps again the dream was not real, just a careful imagining with some odd ties to actual events. She felt sick inside, she had a terrible gut wrenching feeling that whatever Chess said next, she wouldn't like it.<p>

Chess stopped walking at the end of the path right before the clearing of the mad tea party. "Yes, the Hatter… you do remember him don't you?" He didn't leave her time to respond, "Of course you do." He looked at her sympathetically. He hadn't noticed it before, but now he knew why she had returned. She had fallen in love, and by the fear in her voice he knew it was with the Hatter. He didn't want to tell her bad news, what she feared to hear, but he knew that he needed to. He liked Alice, and he knew she deserved the truth before she had to see it herself. "Alice… He's gone insane…"

She felt relieved… he was alive, yet at the same time, her heart broke… He had gone insane? He had always been crazy, and yes, a touch insane, but for it to be acknowledged so solemnly by Chess… well something must have gone seriously and severely wrong. She almost couldn't choke out the word, "Insane…" she murmured. It wasn't a statement, nor was it entirely a question… it was more like a repetition, like what a child would do while learning to speak… Truly she was learning to speak; she was learning how to speak a word that she used to use loosely... she was learning a how to speak a word that now made her blood run ice cold.

"I'm afraid so…" He said, again feeling bad for Alice. He didn't want to tell her everything, he wanted to allow her a little blissful ignorance…he wanted her to keep the innocent thoughts of Underland she had had as a child, but he knew that it was impossible. Her mind had already been corrupted in the respect of Underland, the red queen and her Jabberwocky had done that to her. Still, he couldn't help himself but wish that he wouldn't have to be the one to crush the last remaining dregs of her Wonderland. "He drove himself more and more mad after you left… Eventually he just couldn't go any crazier…"

It was almost physically painful to Alice when she heard the words he spoke… it was her fault that the Hatter was insane… It was her fault that he had gone crazy from missing her. She felt terrible… no wonder he had been so easily angered in her dream… if it was really him… it made an odd sort of sense. She felt sick to her stomach as she wondered what would happen when he saw her. She worried that he might be too troubled to even recognize her presence, but he had been coherent in her dream and that gave her a small shred of hope. Wondering if Chess could assist her in something before she stepped into the clearing… she knew what she had to do, and that was save the hatter… she had a plan forming on how she would do it, but she needed to know something first. "Chess?" She asked trying to keep her voice from shaking "Is it possible to share a dream with someone?" The words would have sounded silly to her in any other place but Underland, but here they sounded completely normal, like a question one would ask any day.

Chess didn't even think for a moment, just grinned broadly. Given the somber mood of their conversation just moments ago it surprised Alice. "Of course it's possible dear…" He said trailing off as he slowly began to disappear. He knew that he was the last person Tarrant needed to see at the moment. He was curious as to whether or not Alice was thinking about sharing a dream with the Hatter… or if they already had. He couldn't help but think to himself that it had to happen sometime… he should have seen it from the start…

He disappeared without another word, and Alice was left staring at nothing with a million questions on her tongue. She wished she could have asked Chess more before he disappeared, but she knew better… Things with Chess were never easy.

She took a deep breath and turned to face the clearing. She looked over the area and was glad to see that little had changed. There was still a long buffet table with chairs around it and various tea things upon it. It was still a mess, with random colors and little to no matching pieces. The one thing that had changed was the old windmill behind the party. It had been seemingly repaired, but was still as dark as usual. She had never been inside of it before, but she had been told that it served as the residence for the members of the Mad Tea Party since the hostile takeover of the red Queen. She wondered if they all still lived there, and whether or not that was where they were now. She had already observed that they were not at their usual places around the table, but she hadn't expected them to be. After all, it was very late and dark outside… far from tea time.

Taking a chance Alice again took a deep breath and stepped into the clearing. With measured, confident strides, she slowly made her way over to the old windmill. It was made of splintered old weathered wood replaced here and there with newer pieces. Despite its dark and domineering looks from far away, Alice found herself liking the way it looked up close. There was a bit of charm to the old edifice of the building. She rather liked the way it was imperfect… it had character.

She was unsure of what to do next. She wasn't sure whether or not to knock, or whether or not it would be too rude to awake the structure's sleeping inhabitants. The last thing she wanted was to offend or anger anyone.

While debating whether or not to enter the building uninvited, a cold and bitter wind blew through the area. It had been fairly comfortable in the thick forest, but here in the open plain, the wind caused a slight chill. She probably wouldn't have minded the cold if she were dressed in proper attire, but she was not. The cool breeze whipped through the torn, dirty, damp skirt of her nightgown and caused her to shiver.

She knocked on the door once and cautiously said, "Hello?" She waited, watched, and listened but received no answer.

She tried again, this time knocking a few more times and saying "Hello?" a little louder. To this she once again received no answer, so she tried one last time.

She gathered up all her muchness and pounded hard on the door three times. After doing this she shouted, "Hello, Is anybody there?"

After waiting for a good five minutes Alice wondered if the trio had perhaps moved away in her six years of absence. She knew that they were creatures of habit, but she had also learned that anyone can change.

Having no other place she knew how to get to, Alice made her mind up to stay in the windmill, at least until the end of the night. She felt odd, barging into a home without permission, but she needed someplace to stay. She twisted the doorknob, pushed the door, and walked inside.

The room she walked into as she opened the door seemed to be a sitting room or living room. It was comfortably warm in the house. It was not chilly like it was outside, but it was not hot like homes often are during the summer. It was much like the comfortable temperature she had experienced upon her arrival and the temperature she enjoyed whilst in Tugley wood. Looking around the room she found that it was far cozier inside than one would expect from looking at the rather dark exterior.

There were two sofas both of which were covered with multicolored and multi-patterned pillows, curtains of rainbow colors covering the small windows, and two wooden end tables. The end tables, along with a single coffee table, were completely covered with tea cups and spoons of various sizes, colors, and styles. There was also a brightly colored area rug on the floor, and a very full quilt rack in the corner of the room. She saw that there was also a fireplace with chunks of charred wood which was of course not lit because of the season.

Alice had already decided that she would just sleep on the couch until morning, but she couldn't help herself but to look in at least one other room. She would have felt guilty for snooping if it weren't for the fact that the many teacups around told her the home indeed did belong to her friends. Reassured with that fact, she walked into another room.

The room, which she quickly recognized as a kitchen, was messy to say the least. On the floor there were broken shards of cups, plates, bowls, and other pieces of china. Every cupboard door was already open, and there were little to be found except boxes of tea, tea things and tea cakes. She also noticed a few jars of jam and jelly that were lying out, but she saw nothing substantial to eat.

After looking around long enough in the kitchen to meet her fancy, Alice found herself so tired she couldn't even keep her mind straight. Feeling the need to sleep creep upon her, Alice returned to the living room, grabbed a blanket and made herself comfortable on the longer of the two couches. It was there that she fell asleep, and dreamed all night long about her friends… especially the Hatter…

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><p>Sorry about the crappy chapter, but I hope you'll read and review anyway. I've been wicked busy lately, and now my laptop is having problems :( So its pretty much impossible for me to write. I promise you SATURDAY this week, not sunday like I did this time. I swear Saturday at the latest!<p> 


	5. Morning

Hey! I finished early and got the okay from my lovely Best Friend and Beta Regas27! On a personal note, me and my boyfriend broke up... I'm sad... and happy, its confusing, but I'm fine. Here's the new chapter!

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><p>Alice awoke slowly, and kept her eyes closed at first. She was comfortable and had just had the most amazing dream, so she really did not want to get up. She wished she could just stay in bed all day, and that maybe, if she kept her eyes closed, her amazing dream would return… But she knew better.<p>

She knew that she had to get up and work on the expense reports for the company. The expense reports were annoying and tedious, which caused her to put them off until the last possible moment. Much like this stack of reports that she had thus far avoided, but were due in by Monday at the very latest… by her reckoning, today was Monday.

She opened her eyes slowly and leisurely, only to find that she didn't have to keep her eyes closed in order to dream. Her freshly opened eyes revealed to her an unfamiliar ceiling followed by an unfamiliar room and an unfamiliar, yet comfortable, couch. "What the…?" She said groggily as she pulled the blanket from herself to reveal the same nightgown she had donned last night in a far more ragged and muddy state than it had been in when she had put it on. "It was all real?" She muttered to herself trying to completely remember what had happened that night. She remembered getting out of bed and meeting Absolem, falling down the rabbit hole, and finding herself in Underland. From there she remembered Chess, The Windmill, Teacups and a couch. After falling asleep she also remembered speaking again to the Hatter who told her to sleep well, and that he would see her soon… It made little sense… what had happened and what hadn't?

She supposed that, from a logical sense, one does not fall asleep in a dream, so that meant that everything before her falling asleep was in fact real, and everything previous was a dream. This brought her to the question of whether or not she was asleep at the moment, because she knew it was very possible to wake up in a dream. She pinched her arm to assure herself that she truly was awake, and may have pinched a bit too hard when she interjected, "Ow!" That, at least, proved that her current state was no dream.

"What are ya yelling for lass?", said a smooth male voice from behind her. She knew that voice… it was a deep Scottish baroque which signaled madness… madness she had only known a single man for having.

She felt her heart beat double its normal pace after hearing his voice. She pulled herself out of the bed she had made on the couch and turned around to see him. The sight for sore eyes that he was, standing tall in an emerald green unbuttoned button-up shirt and a pair of black trousers. She had never seen him without his usual vest, jacket, and such. She couldn't help herself but ogle for a moment at what little she could see of his chest, and let herself run wild with thoughts of what was left to imagination. He certainly hadn't changed much in their six years apart, but by the feelings she received from just looking at him, Alice knew she had changed a lot.

After allowing her young and mildly innocent mind to run wild, Alice paid more attention to him than his chest. Like she had previously noticed he hadn't changed much. The only differences she could really discern were that he wasn't wearing his hat, his eyes showed a bit more madness than they previously had and he was looking at her in a somewhat different way than she had remembered. She wondered at that for a moment, but no longer, because a new thought took hold of her mind.

"Tarrant?" Alice said, surprising herself at how natural the name felt as it tumbled from her lips. She still wasn't sure whether or not she had simply just dreamed the entire thing, and though it would be odd if she had called him a random name, she needed to know what it had been.

He looked at her for a moment as though he were confused or was trying to remember something he had forgotten. "Alice!" He said in a tone that showed he was seemingly relieved. He then ran towards her and scooped her up into a tight hug, "You remembered! How I've missed you!"

Alice could hardly believe what was happening; it was like her dream all over again. She couldn't help herself but to give in to the hug. He was warm, and the way he held her tight to him during their embrace made her feel as though she were in heaven. His chest was just as heavenly to the touch as it was to look at, and being in his arms was like a dream come true. He had strong arms, she had never seen them enough to know, but feeling them around her now… she could just tell.

When he finally released her, she couldn't help but try saying his name again. She still, of course, was unsure of whether or not it truly was his name, but from his reaction she supposed it was. Alice knew that since she was a child curiosity had gotten her into trouble, but for curiosity's sake she had to try it again. "Tarrant… is that your name?" She asked enquiringly, trying with the upmost difficulty not to ask too many questions at once.

"Yes, yes that's my name… just as much as Alice is yours, given names of course, if we were using last names mine would be Hightopp, but we're not. It would be awful silly of me to call you by your last name after all… Kingsley would be an awfully funny thing to call a lady don't you think? Not that it matters, everything is funny down here anyway, you told me that when you were young. Do you remember? After all it was terribly long ago and you were such a little…"

"Tarrant!" Alice said again, this time as a statement to get him to end his rambling than as a question. His rambling however had given her one thing… his last name… it made sense now… her dream… His name was Tarrant Hightopp.

"Cricket…" He finished in a tone that made it seem as though it were almost painful for him to stop rambling and once again catch the reigns to his sanity. "I'm so glad it worked Alice. I thought it wouldn't… but it did!" He smiled at this and looked at her pleasantly. "I missed you Alice."

Unsure of what he was saying exactly she thought for a moment. What had worked? She ached to ask him, but she already had many many questions that needed answering… she just hoped that that question could wait for later. "I missed you too." She said with a cheery and honest smile. She remembered her dreams of him from last night. They had not felt real like her other dream of him, but last night's dreams had been pleasant to say the very least. She couldn't help but blush when she thought about them… in her dreams he had kissed her goodnight and told her to sleep well. He had also told her that she would see him soon, which had been very true. This of course made her wonder whether she was crazy, or was having psychic dreams, or whether her previous hypothesis had been true and she was sharing dreams with the hatter.

Chess had told her that sharing dreams was possible, but after that he hadn't given her any more information, he had just smiled and vanished. Taking advantage of her current situation and needing to know that she wasn't just going insane, she repeated her old question to Underland's resident mad man. "Is it possible to share dreams with a person?" Alice asked inquisitively.

"Well of course you can." The mad man said with a look of confusion on his face, "How else could I have talked to you while you were in the Upperland?" He honestly looked as though he couldn't understand why she would ask such a silly question. He seemed to think that it should have been obvious to her.

"So we were sharing dreams then…" She said trailing off, her mind all abuzz with curiosity and wondering on how exactly one shared one's dreams with another. She was just about to ask a question on such a topic when the Hatter seemed to remember that he was not properly attired.

"Oh dear… this won't do…" He said looking down at himself and seeing his disheveled look, went to go upstairs presumably to get dressed.

This just made Alice long for the clothes she had left home. She would rather be wearing anything than her current torn rag of a nightgown. She felt as though the gown wasn't even there… it was so ripped, dirty, and utterly destroyed, she wasn't even sure if she could call it a garment anymore. She tried to straighten herself up, she knew she must be a sight with her dirty hair, dirty face, dirty body, and destroyed night gown. She couldn't help herself but wish for the stockings she hated, and maybe even a petticoat and gown or two. The items which signified femininity… the items which she had never wanted… would now be a godsend. She was anxious for something, anything clothing wise that was at least clean. Though the one item that she could still not wish for was a corset… corsets be damned… she'd rather go naked rather than wear a corset.

She couldn't help herself but seriously give some thought to going about naked… at the very least it was better than wearing filthy clothes…. Of course it wouldn't be decent, but she knew the people of Underland and other than the court royals… no one around really had all that much of a care about decency. The simple thought of the idea of being naked all the time reminded Alice of the time that she had threatened the "lovely" twins from town. She had threatened to tell their mother on more than one occasion about how she had caught them swimming in a pond completely and utterly naked… of course she had never told a living soul, nor would she ever, but it was still a fun game to play with them. She probably would've felt guilty about it too if it weren't for the fact that they were such gossips.

Her musings were soon interrupted by the now very well dressed Hatter who had entered the room. He was wearing a lot of green today. His green shirt was now buttoned, and on top of it he wore a black vest and a green jacket. He also wore a pair of black slacks to which there was a green undertone. On his feet he wore green socks and black shoes, but the most welcome addition to his attire was his large green top hat. The hat made Alice smile and feel as though, she was once again in "Wonderland" for the first time.

"Much better…" The Hatter muttered as he smoothed the cuffs of his shirt until they were perfect. Alice always thought that he was extremely well dressed for a mad man, and now was one of the moments where she believed she had learned why something was the way it was in Underland. She thought for a moment, that maybe, just maybe, the reason the Hatter dressed so pristinely was in order to keep check on his madness. If clothes truly did make the man, why couldn't they make sanity also.

Alice looked down at herself and sighed. If clothes make the man, they also make the woman, and the clothes she was currently wearing made her look like either a murder victim, or at the very least a serf. She felt dirty and disgusting, and luckily, the hatter picked up on her distress.

"Come on Alice… I'll show you your room." He said as he walked out of the room as though it was nothing but an everyday, normal circumstance.

Confused to no end, Alice followed, smiling besides herself simply because Tarrant was smiling too.

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><p>Okay people! Fifteen total reviews or ten signed (ON THIS CHAPTER) gets you a new chapter! I'll post the new chapter next Saturday if I don't get them by then. I'd like to sincerely thank the following readers for their awesome reviews :ChibiRoni13, JuneFiction909, Lillywarrior, May-B-Madd, and Madz.<p> 


	6. Bath and Bedroom

"My room?" Alice asked aloud as she was lead to the staircase by the Hatter. He had seemed excited about something and hadn't elaborated on his previous statement, and as it seemed he would not answer her now. She was partially curious as to whether or not he heard her question, and while she did want to know what was going on, she didn't want to ask the question again.

The Hatter padded up the stairs in front of her in an insane glee which Alice couldn't help but mimic. His smiles and laughs and giggles were just so infectious that she could never hold a straight face for more than a moment when he was happy. It seemed that if he were happy, she would be also.

When they reached the top of the stairs, Alice found herself in a hallway with wooden walls and floors. The entire house was pleasant to Alice, everything was comfortable temperature-wise, there was laid-back but lovely décor, and while things were disheveled, everything seemed to be washed and cleaned well. There was also the fact that almost the entire structure was made of wood. It made Alice more comfortable because it reminded her of her home country cottage in the woods of the Upperland. She absolutely loved her home in the Upperland because it was comfortable for her, a place for just her, a place to escape work, a place to be happy, and most of all, a place to call home.

"I hope you don't mind… I haven't cleaned it in a while. I knew you were coming, but it must have slipped my mind. It's probably an awful mess, so I apologize…" He said rushing his words as he stopped in front of one of the hallway doors. "I hope you'll like it…"

As Alice stood next to him, he opened the door to the room and gestured Alice inside before him. She was in complete shock as she saw the room, it was beautiful. The walls were pale blue with white flur de lis painted on and the floor was a darkly finished wood with a large white rug over it. As Alice stepped upon the carpet her feet sunk into it and she noticed that it was the softest rug she had ever felt in her life. It was even more exquisite than the woven colorful rugs she had seen in India, and it was far past the quality of goods she had seen anywhere else previously in the Upperland. While stepping on it, Alice remembered how filthy her feet were. She tried to step on it gently as to not stain it, but worried about the stains anyway.

After taking in the first few details of the room, she began to look at the smaller things. One of the first things she saw in her second glace around the room was a large dark wood four poster queen sized bed with a generous black canopy, white sheets, a blue comforter, and a variety of blue, white, and black pillows. She gasped when she saw it, it was lovely, and right next to it was a nightstand of matching style in the same wood. The dresser also matched the bed and the nightstand, and to Alice it looked as though the furniture had been custom made. "Tarrant…" Alice said trying to catch her breath long enough to ask him a question, "Did you really do all this for me?"

He smiled as though he were happy that she was so pleasantly surprised. Alice thought she saw a bit of a blush cross his alabaster cheeks as he answered her question. "Yes Alice, I did it all for you… I told Thackery and Maliumpkin that you were coming back… at first I don't think they believed me… but after a while they started helping me… we did the room together you see. I have a bit of an eye for design, Mali is good at the little stuff , Thackery was happy doing anything with paint, and Thackery had an old friend who was a carpenter who built the furniture for us…" He paused here and pointed to a wardrobe in the back of the room that Alice had not yet seen, "He built that too… look inside…Please?"

Alice felt like she was about to go on sensory overload from all of the sudden differences, changes, and surprises, but instead of asking questions immediately, Alice decided to do as Tarrant had asked her. She thought that maybe if she just followed her instructions, she would end up having more answers than she had questions. So with that in mind, she walked over to the indicated wardrobe.

It was slightly lighter colored than the others, something that was not truly noticeable to anyone but Alice. She walked up to it and gently touched the handles on the twin doors that opened out from each other, it also had drawer on its bottom, but Alice thought that the doors would be a far more interesting place to look first. As she opened the wardrobe she saw a long bar stretching from one side of the wardrobe to the other with a few top shelves and a couple bottoms shelves. She had expected the wardrobe to be empty, or to be filled with the Hatter's personal belongings, but instead she found that there were many dresses hanging from the bar. The dresses were almost all cool colors with blue and purple being most dominate of the colors.

Alice turned around to the hatter and gave him a questioning glance as if to ask, "Are they really all mine?" Even though she never said it aloud, the Hatter still understood and answered with a nod. "There's a private bath behind the other door… everything you'll need should be in here, but if you need anything, I'll be right across the hall in my room... Alice?"

"What is it Tarrant?" She asked gently.

He took a deep breath and some madness as well as an emotion Alice could only call fear returned to his eyes. "Are you really staying this time?" He looked and sounded so fragile when he said it, that Alice could finally see what her absence had done to him. Deep down inside there was a small part of him that broke after she left, a small part that was unsure if now it could truly begin to heal.

She couldn't bear the thought of him being in pain, especially pain that was caused by her. She suddenly wished that she had never left Underland, or at least that she had returned sooner. She had been dreaming of and with him for years, and had never once asked him how she could return to Underland. If he hadn't asked her to return, she probably wouldn't have… not because she didn't miss it, but because she would have never thought to ask to return. If it weren't for his lapse in a slowly diminishing self-control, she probably wouldn't have asked at all. She gave a sigh and looked at him, she blamed herself for his pain and his now even more fragile state of mind. She loved him and his pain was her own. She gave him a gentle smile and told him the truth… the words he needed so badly to hear, "Of course I'm staying Tarrant!"

He looked at her in an odd way for a moment as if he was making sure what he had just said had truly come out of her mouth. After all he had missed her so badly that now that he had her he might just be daydreaming that she would never again leave him… but no, she had truly said it, and unless she was lying to him, she was truly staying. He grinned broadly and literally jumped up with excitement. He looked at her as if he were going to lift her up and never put her down, but seeing her current appearance reminded him of why they had gone upstairs in the first place. He tried to calm himself and said, "That's good to know Alice…" It took a moment for him to make himself look completely calm cool and collected, but once he did he gave her a brief smile and walked out of the room saying, "I'll give you some time to yourself to do as you need… I'll be right across the way if you need anything."

As the door closed behind him Alice heard him break off into various cheers such as "Callooh Callay!", "She's staying!", and "I missed her so!" She couldn't help but smile at his joy, because she too was happy to stay. After a few moments the cheering and quick footsteps died out, she supposed that he had entered his room like he had said he would. She decided then to explore her room some more.

The only mess that the Hatter could have been possibly describing was upon a small writing desk in the corner of the room. Upon it there was fabric, scraps, strings, needles, pins, ribbons, a sewing machine, and what looked to be a black sketch book. Her curiosity got the better of her, as it usually did, and she flipped the small black book open.

On the first page there was a sketch of a light blue dress with a white apron over top it. The dress looked exactly like the dress she had worn her first time down the rabbit hole, and in her childhood dreams. She thought it odd, but interesting that the Hatter would have drawn it. On the next page there was a drawing of another dress in white with pink and blue flowers all over it, it was obviously drawn for a child, but she loved it never the less. On the same page there was also a drawing of a bonnet and what looked to be a hair bow. She turned the next few page and saw more girl's dresses and hats. There were also a few drawings of animals in clothing which would have surprised her in Upperland, but here rabbits in waist coats and hats were commonplace.

Other pages had sketches of hats, animals, people, and a very accurate yet demeaning caricature of the Red Queen. Closer to the end of the drawn pages there were dresses and hats that seemed to be large enough for an adult woman. A few of the dress sketches were similar to those in the wardrobe, so to Alice it only made sense that the Hatter had made them.

Wishing to see the comparison again Alice opened the closet and pulled out a light blue dress that looked like one of the sketches. It was about knee length and sleeveless with a black bow at the waist and black lace over the skirt. It was beautiful and almost identical to the drawing in the sketch book. The sketch was accompanied by a drawing of a hat. The hat in the drawing was a white sunhat with a black ribbon and a blue flower, she tried to find it in the closet, and did find it on the top shelf. She decided that it would be what she would wear today.

She took another look in the sketch pad and turned to the final drawing. It was a black and white depiction of a woman. It was beautiful and well-drawn to the point where Alice could hardly believe that it was done by the Hatter. She had always known he had artistic talent, but she had always seen it in the form of clothing, hats, and sketches. This was no sketch; it was artwork… beautiful, well done artwork.

After looking at it for a few moments, light wavy hair, dark eyes, and high cheekbones, she gasped… it was a drawing of her. She wasn't sure whether to feel flattered or embarrassed by his drawing her, but did know that at the moment she didn't want to look at it too long.

She walked back over to the wardrobe and pulled open the previously unexplored bottom drawer which she now saw contained stockings and various female underthings. That definitely embarrassed her, and she sincerely hoped that it was one of the "little things" that Maliumpkin had thought of. She pulled out what she needed and walked over to the door of the bathroom and went inside. It was a good sized bathroom with walls the same colors as the bedroom, a toilet, a sink and a large tub. There was a medicine cabinet with a mirrored front above the sink, and a cabinet filled with towels and soaps next to the tub.

After letting the water run for a bit, Alice disrobed and got into the tub. The water was the perfect temperature, and the soap she had selected smelled like vanilla and sugar cookies. It was a nice smell, and regardless of what it smelled like, it took the dirt off and made her feel clean. She sunk deep into the water until it was up to her chin, it felt nice, and it made her feel content.


	7. Bumping Into Tea Time

I really apologize for the long time it took me to update. I know where this story is going, but unfortunately I have no idea how to get there... I don't know when the new update will be up, but I'll try hard to post asap.

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><p>After her bath Alice got dressed and pulled her hair back with a white ribbon she had found on the writing desk. Whilst in the tub she had lost track of time and while she didn't know the exact amount of time she had spent in the tub, she knew that it had been at least an hour. She felt clean and comfortable which was a marginal betterment from her previous state of filth. She smoothed down her dress of choice and did some last minute fixing to her looks before she was ready to leave the room. Alice wasn't usually one to primp and make perfect, but she felt that she needed to make up for her previous sloppy and rude entrance.<p>

The dress would probably make up for most of it; it was an off-white color with thick black ribbons for straps, and another black ribbon for a sash. It looked somewhat casual, like a sun dress, but at the same time Alice believed it was elegant enough to wear to a ball. She smiled when she had put it on, it fit her perfectly without the Hatter ever having taken her measurements. Alice wondered if he had just simply guessed her size from what he had seen of her in their shared dreams. She mentally reminded herself to ask him more about the dreams later, but for now she only had two things on her mind. One the fact that Tarrant Hightopp was a genius with fabric, and two that she needed to speak with him as soon as physically possible.

She slid out of the room and began her hunt for the Hatter. It didn't take her too awful long because she bumped straight into him as they both exited their respective rooms. She fell to the ground with a thud, never knowing that for as slight a build he had, the Hatter was a brick wall.

"Alice!" He shouted as he tried to help her off the floor, "I'm terribly sorry! I didn't see you there! Are you alright?"

Alice could see that some force was trying to make it impossible for her to make a decent impression. "Yes I'm quite alright." She said softly after the hatter helped her up. She dusted herself off with both hands before turning back to him. She could feel herself blushing as she said, "We need to stop bumping into each other like this…"

The hatter looked a bit confused and a bit hurt by her statement, but did not respond. It seemed like he was trying to figure out how exactly he should react when Alice continued.

"Sorry for running into you Ha…Tarrant… I was just trying to find you anyway…" Her slip was accidental, and she hoped that he wouldn't notice it.

He smiled at her; she had let his other name slip as a habitual accident. He supposed it really didn't matter, and he had been thinking about what he had said for quite some time now. With Alice back and the Red Queen gone, he had been thinking somewhat more clearly than he had been in their dream. "Alice you can call me Hatter if it makes things easier for you…" He said gently, "I apologize for my previous rantings…" While he did prefer that she use his given name, he supposed that old habits just die hard. He had a hard time believing that he would be able to call Alice anything but Alice, so giving her at least some time and some space to do as he wanted was the right thing to do.

Alice smiled back at him; she could tell that he was trying his very hardest to keep the worst of his madness in check. "I like calling you Tarrant." She said with a smile and a bit of an unwanted blush, "It's just difficult for me to break an old habit…" What she said was true, and though she would try her best to call him by his first name, she knew she would slip up here or there.

With a smile he grabbed her hand and began to walk. He was leading her and knowing wordlessly that she would follow. His stride was longer than hers, so it was difficult for her to keep up, but he released her hand as he went before her down the stairs. "Please hurry Alice!" He said with a mischievous grin, "We mustn't keep them waiting!"

Alice obediently followed him, confused as she was and still a bit befuddled by their bumping in to each other. She supposed she should be used to things like this by now. The way of Underland was for things to move too quickly and too confusingly to make sense to someone from the Upperland. Not knowing what else to so Alice descended the staircase and once again took up the Hatter's hand. For some reason holding on to him made her not worry about where they were going or what was going on… with their hands joined, there was some kind of peace for her. She wondered if it were merely coincidental, or if it were instead something more that she yet did not understand, but she couldn't even focus on that for long. Instead her new thoughts were on his hands, he was wearing his gloves, but even below the soft worn fabric she could feel his strong rough hands. His hands were the hands of a man who had worked hard at his craft his whole life, she had felt their touch before and knew exactly how calloused his hands were. It amazed her that his rough, mercury stained fingers that could brandish a sword or carry heavy things were the same hands that could create beautiful art and embroider the most intricate and delicate of flowers into fabrics of any kind.

In part she envied his talents, she herself never being able to sew a stich to save her life nor was her artwork anything special. She doodled occasionally and had finally mastered the drawing of a rose, but nothing that compared to his level of mastery. She was about to ask him about the sketch book on the desk when she noticed where they were. Being so deep in thought she hadn't noticed where he had brought her until now, but she probably should have expected it. She was outside and just mere inches away from the long buffet table that housed the mad tea party. It must be tea time because Thackery, Chess, and Maliumpkin were already seated around the table.

"Join us Alice!" Mali shouted from her seat on top of a rather large tea pot, "It's time for a special tea!"

"It's time for tea!" Thackery shouted as he threw a tea cup. It was good to see that something's never changed.

Alice was confused, "I thought tea time was at six o'clock… now that the Red Queen is gone and time is back to normal, I though you all would go back to having tea at six…" Confused as she was, she didn't argue and walked over to the seat next to the Hatter. She sat down as Maliumpkin explained their new tea rituals to her.

"Well tea time was six, always six, and six always was dear… so now that it's not always six we still have tea at six, but six is the last hour of tea you see…" Alice tried to follow her statement and almost understood when she continued, "But it's not six, its noon, and tea now starts at four, but we're a bit early because we wanted to speak with you Alice… and what better way to talk than over tea?"

Beginning now to understand, Alice smiled, "There is simply nothing better than tea in order to catch up on the past."

With that Maliumpkin began to tell Alice what had happened in Underland in her years away. The Tweedle's had begun their journey of separation by making separate homes. They apparently still spent the majority of their time together, but having separate homes seemed to be helping them to become more independent of one another. The Bandersnatch had met another of its kind, the "Bandersnatch-ess" as everyone was calling it. They had found a companionship and love in each other in a way only creatures of the forest can, and together they had four "pups" that are now quite playful and enjoy chasing chess around the woods. Bayard, his wife, and pups had taken up permanent residence in the court of the white queen and worked for her as couriers. They spread the messages of the Queen all over Underland. The remainder of the Red Queen's staff had been liberated, and the last of her evil pets slain.

Mali herself had found a new home near the edge of the meadow, a home which she mentioned was right next to Thackery's. Thackery now worked as the head chef in the Queen's palace, and Mali worked as the head of her majesty's royal guard. After that she mentioned something that Alice didn't quite understand, "The White King and the baby have returned, though Lily is hardly a baby anymore… she has to be at least six or seven now…"

Alice cocked an eyebrow and curiously repeated, "White King? … Lily?" She hadn't heard of either before, but somewhere in the back of her mind they sounded familiar.

"Oh yes, the White Queen's husband and their daughter Princess Lily… I can hardly blame you for forgetting them, I think you only met them once briefly as a young child, and Lily was a newborn baby back then. The Red Queen had taken them hostage, and they were still being held by her people until recently… needless to say the Queen was overjoyed to have them back after so long."

Alice could hardly believe what she had just heard, she had known that there had been a Red King, but she had never once heard of a White King, nor a princess of the White court. She was tempted to ask more questions when Chess decided to add his own news.

"I was invited to be one of her majesty's royal advisors…." He said before yawning and leisurely sipping a cup of tea. "It seems that she was simply in awe of my knowledge and evaporation abilities…"

"Enough about your evaporation you bloody cat!" Maliumpkin said with her hat pin sword pointed at him, "Why don't you tell Alice why you didn't take the job, at least that's interesting."

"You didn't take the job Chess?" Alice asked curiously. She knew for a fact that Chess loved to advise people and give them advice whether they want it or not.

"Well as an advisor… she wasn't looking for an advice giver… rather she wanted a companion… rather… a lap cat." Everyone laughed hysterically except for Alice who tried hard to stifle a giggle.

Mali laughed so hard she fell off her teapot and onto a spoon handle. The spoon held a sugar cube which launched out of the spoon and straight at Thackery. Thackery who was still laughing madly about Chess's tale had his mouth wide open, which served as a goal of sorts for the sugar cube. The cube landed in his mouth and startled him to the point where he spilled his tea all over the table cloth. Alice seeing this tried to quickly grab a napkin to clean the mess, but the Hatter had seen it at the same time and due to their proximity they bumped into each other and fell down taking a chair or two with them.

Then all was silent, no one laughed for fear that someone had been hurt. Tarrant immediately rebounded from the fall and checked to see if Alice was alright. He helped her to her feet and worried that she was injured, but after a moment of checking her over he gave a wild laugh. "We need to stop bumping into each other like this!"

Alice was confused for a moment unsure if she had heard what he had said. After a few seconds she understood, he was quoting her words from earlier that morning. Unable to restrain herself Alice began to laugh, to her their entire current situation was comical… confusing, but completely and totally funny. She knew then and there that this is where she belonged, tripping over the Hatter and making merry with her friends… She belonged in Underland; she belonged at this table, and most of all she belonged at Tarrant's side.

Shortly after Alice began to laugh, Thackery had joined in, and had been followed by Maliumpkin and Chess. None of them knew exactly what they were laughing at, but they had been caught in a wave of Alice and Tarrant's combined contagious laughter. Now that everyone was laughing, things felt more natural, and the long buffet table felt almost like a home… a home of madness where the friend's hearts were.

After the majority of the laughter died down, Tarrant told Alice what he had been doing since she left. He had been, of course, reinstated in his previous position of official Hatter to the White Queen, but he had also opened a small hat shop out of his workshop in the shed behind the windmill. He explained to Alice that he also worked inside his home, but that the majority of his commercial work was done in his shop. After he finished speaking, the others raved about his hats and how much business had improved since the White Queen returned to power. They also participated in chit chatter about how they would each need a new hat for the soon approaching Flitzwibbet Day celebration, which Alice learned was the celebration of the Frabjous Day on which she had slain the Jabberwocky.

What felt like mere moments after talks of Alice, The Frabjous day, and hats subsided, everyone looked at Alice. They wanted so badly to hear her tale of life in the Upperland, but it seemed to her that compared to their stories, hers would be a bore. Even after explaining this to them, they still insisted on hearing. Not wanting to displease them, Alice began her tale. She was amazed to find that they all, even Thackery, remained silent through the entire tale and held on to her every word. She told them of her travels to China and tropical island nations, of her new discoveries, of her boredom with London, and of her new home in the woodland cottage.

The Hatter took special interest in her explanation of the textile and silk trade in China. She talked to him more about it, but she wished that she might return to the Upperland, if only shortly, in order to grab her things including some of the cloth she had bought. They all went on with catching up well into the dark of night and far past the ending of their new teatime, until they all decided to depart and return to their respective homes and beds.

As they parted, something strange happened. Alice almost wouldn't have noticed it if it were not for her current heightened curiosity on the subject, but she did. As she said goodnight to Maliumpkin, the mouse girl had looked to her and then to the Hatter and had said, "Sweet dreams." With a wink that Alice could only describe as "suggestive". There was something going on with her dreams, something that others knew and simply didn't tell her. While this would have angered Alice under normal circumstances, she was currently far too happy and far too tired to do anything about it.

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><p>Please Review!<p> 


	8. Escort

__Hello my dear readers! Thanks so much for all the lovely reviews on the last chapter. I'm sorry its taken me so long to update, but I've been really busy lately. I promise after finals and regents are over my update schedule will be more regular.

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><p><em>She was falling, falling, falling, and always falling… quite frankly she had gotten sick of falling, having had enough of it recently. But still she was falling as usual down the rabbit hole. This time on her way down she grabbed a book and began to read. She found that, however the book was an incredibly boring book written solely on the proper behavior and etiquettes a young lady must follow. She tossed it aside, her mother had once bought her a similar book as a child, and her sister had tried to read it to her, but she had always just run off finding it too boring to listen to. <em>

_Finally she landed, but not in the harsh and painful thud that she usually had to deal with, no, this time she was in a less familiar, but still familiar place. She was in her bedroom, not her usual bedroom in her cottage home; no she was in her new bedroom in Underland. The room was darker than usual, she supposed because it was nighttime. She walked around the room for a moment wondering why she was feeling such a sense of De-ja- Vu in such a new place. Then it hit her as she turned to see herself asleep in the bed, she was dreaming again, just as she had the night before her return to Underland._

_She smiled; she knew what to do now. She walked over to the only door in the room and opened it expecting to see the same rose garden she had seen last time. Only, as the door swung open, there was no rose garden, only the hallway outside her room in the Old Windmill house. If she hadn't seen herself asleep with her own eyes, she would believe that she were merely sleepwalking, but the reality of her body in her bed told her otherwise._

_Without thinking her feet automatically took her the few steps across the hall and her hands twisted the knob and opened the door to Tarrant's room. There, he lay sleeping just as she had in her bed. She didn't want to disturb his sleeping, but told herself that she wouldn't be doing any real harm because this was all just simply a dream. "Don't be silly… you'll wake up soon enough…" She whispered to herself as she walked over to the bed where his sleeping body lay. If this was just truly a dream, there would be absolutely no harm in going over to him. Unable to help herself, Alice sat on the edge of the bed, he was so peaceful as he slept, especially for being such a mad man during the day._

_She took in every detail of his sleeping figure, his closed fuchsia and blue eyelids, his crazy orange eyebrows, his slightly parted lips… it was almost too much to take… she was suddenly filled with the desire to reach out and touch him… if only for a moment. _

_She reached out her hand gently and testing the waters she placed it slowly in his messy orange hair. It was, as usual, surprisingly soft for its frizzy, rough looking texture, and she couldn't help but stroke it back softly. He did not stir, but instead his lips formed a smile, he liked it… he, in his sleeping state, must have found it soothing or calming in some way. _

_That thought made Alice wonder whether or not it would calm him while he was awake. She continued to think and stroke his hair until she heard a voice from behind her. _

"_I can feel that you know…" the voice said in smooth, sexy tones from behind her, "It feels really nice…"_

_Alice froze and blushed; she knew that to be the voice of the hatter… and not just his usual voice, but the voice of the side of him that was fueled completely by insanity. "I'm sorry…" She muttered softly, being unable to come up with a reason or an excuse for her actions. She should have known that there was an attachment between their sleeping bodies and their dreaming selves… she also should have known that she wasn't alone. She stood up to face him, blushing like a naughty child who was caught stealing sugar from a dish. _

_He approached her swiftly, he was walking with purpose in measured steps which made a rhythmic tapping noise against the floor as he moved. When he reached her he brushed his rough, mercury stained fingers down her cheek. It made her shiver and feel things in places ladies shouldn't feel things. _

"_Don't be lass." He said in his thick, sexy, Scottish accent as he brought his lips to hers. _

She was experiencing pure ecstasy when her dreams were cut short by the rising of the sun and the ringing of her body's internal alarm clock telling her to awake and arise to greet the new day. Her eyes opened and immediately reclosed, her dream had been so amazing that she wished to return to it. She hoped that maybe, just maybe, if she fell back asleep, the dream would pick up where it ended. Unfortunately with a few extra minutes in bed, so felt no closer to returning to sleep let alone her dream. The only sensation she was feeling was a feeling of guilt for being awake but not getting out of bed and getting dressed.

She rolled out of the bed she had slept in, the one in her room, in the home of her closest friend Tarrant Hightopp… AKA The Mad Hatter. She had been living in his home for just over a week, and though they had caught up with each other and knew what had happened in both their lives during Alice's absence, there were still unasked questions lingering in the air. Most of these questions had to do with the status of their relationship and how they planned to move forward if there was a mutual feeling of love, but there were also a few odd ball questions that Alice hadn't yet gotten to ask.

One of these odd questions was if, how, and why they were dreaming together. Every time she tried to ask one of the others for answers on this topic, they gave her different reactions but never any answers. Chess, when asked, would raise his eyebrows suggestively and imply things, but never answer her question. Mali would never answer the question and would only blush and tell her not to say it too loud. Thackery was absolutely no help, so Alice didn't even bother asking, and she could not muster up the courage to get her answers from the source. She knew that she could ask the hatter anything and he would give her the honest truth if he could, but Alice for some reason thought it better to not ask him about it, especially when she wasn't even sure what 'it" was exactly.

One of the other questions was one that Alice already knew the answer to, but had never formally asked. She needed to ask the Hatter whether he had made her dresses or not. It was obvious to her that he had, but it was still something she thought it best to bring up.

Her final question that she hadn't yet asked was going to perhaps be the most embarrassing of all, she would have to ask him sooner or later about the sketch book and the drawings. It wasn't necessary to do so, but for her curiosity, it was. If he had taken the time to draw her in such detail and with such perfection, it was obvious to her that there was something slightly more than friendship going on in his mind. She blushed at the thought of there being more between them as she dressed herself in yet another one of his handmade dresses.

This one was lavender colored with white lace trimming the bottom, neckline, and cuffs. It was about knee length with cap sleeves, and a t-shirt style low u-shaped neckline. There was a white lacey ribbon tie under the bust which gave Alice the illusion of a larger and fuller chest. She smiled and lightly blushed as she dressed herself. For a man who made hats for a living, he definitely knew how to dress the rest of a woman's body. After ensuring that everything was properly tied and taken care of, she went to her vanity mirror to fix her hair up into a bun. She wasn't doing anything too difficult or ornate with her hair because she wasn't going anywhere, but she also didn't leave it down to hang. She was expecting, sooner or later, to have to see the Queen again and meet her family, but if it was sooner rather than later, she wanted to look somewhat presentable.

After finishing up her hair, tying a ribbon into it for good measure, putting on a little perfume, and slipping on a conveniently placed pair of sandals, Alice was off towards the kitchen hoping that she would find the Hatter there. She did not find him in the kitchen, but instead found him walking in the door from the outside with a piece of paper in his hand. He smiled at her brightly as he unrolled the paper in front of her.

"Alice…", He said gleefully, "We've been requested for an Audience with the Queen." He seemed extremely happy, and it made Alice curious as usual. But before she could ask any questions on the subject he added, "We've been invited to a ball in your honor."

She was shocked, a ball in her honor? The last time she had attended a party in her honor it had been an engagement party full of stiff upper-class gentlemen and ladies. She had detested the last party held for her, but she had a feeling in Underland, parties were a bit more fun… a ball… he had said a ball… she wondered what she would wear, what would be expected, and of course when it would be. She had many questions that needed to be fielded, but the Hatter had a question for her first.

"Alice, with your permission, and you may say no… I would like to be your companion to the ball… your date if you will…" He seemed as though he was about to ramble as he often did when he got nervous, so Alice laughed and walked closer to him, using a finger pressed against his lips to hush him.

"I would be honored if you would be my escort Tarrant." She said with a soft smile. Honestly she was glad he had asked, because she couldn't see herself going anywhere with anyone else ever again.

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><p>Thanks so much for reading, if you wouldn't mind sending me another review, I would really love to read it! I like to see what you guys likedislike about the story and how its going (Plus the more reviews I get the faster I update). I'll try to update asap :)


	9. Things Fall Apart

It had been a week since the arrival of the invitation and in that time Alice had learned the particulars on the ball. It was to be held two days from the current day from sun down to sun up. That day being Flitzwibbet Day, the day Alice had come to know as the anniversary of her slaying the Jabberwocky. She had a feeling that the ball being held that day was not coincidence, but it didn't truly bother her at all… after all, she was the champion. She wondered if people would still refer to her as such. Her friends all called her by her given name, Alice, but the ex-courtiers of the red court, whom now were turned white may try to flatter her by use of her title. She knew that if the true white court and the Queen called her as such, they were simply showing gratitude for her actions.

With her thoughts of the Queen, her interest was piqued to the fact that she would be allowed to finally meet the White King, and the White Princess Lily. From what she had heard from Mali, Chess, and the Hatter, they had been held as hostages of the red court for quite some time before Alice came along and slayed the beast that kept the Red Queen in power. It made her feel proud of her past accomplishment and made her even more eager to return to the Queen's castle and estate.

She had also learned that the party was to be held on the castle grounds rather than inside because it was to be a wondrously beautiful night. Alice loved the grounds of the white castle, it was beautiful, especially at night under the pale light of the moon. She remembered the meticulously planted gardens of white roses, roses she would never have to paint red. The pathways had been black and white checkered, much like the chessboards that gave the white kingdom their style and way of life. She smiled thinking about how lovely it would be to see it again, especially with all the flowering trees in full bloom.

She thought this entire event over with her hands in the sink of the hatter's kitchen. She was washing tea cups more for her own personal enjoyment than of necessity. The hatter had seemingly hundreds of tea cups, and she knew that it would be a very long time before it would ever be necessary for her to ever wash a cup, but it felt good for her to be able to do something. The entire week preceding the ball was extremely boring for Alice, and she had had little to do but sit around and think about things. Keeping her hands busy had been difficult since the ball was announced because as it seemed; there was precious little she needed to do. As the guest of honor, she had no part in the preparations, and everyone she knew was far too busy to spend much time with her. She had offered on numerous occasions to help somebody, anybody with what they needed to do to prepare, but no one accepted her offer. They all politely declined insisting that she needn't help prepare for her own party.

Her close friends hadn't been staying long for tea lately either. They showed up every day as usual, but after just a cup or two would leave saying that they had much to do to prepare. Mali, Thackery, and the Tweedle's had work at the castle that took up almost all of their time, and the Hatter had an overwhelming number of orders for hats and clothing. Apparently there were no longer any good seamstresses in Underland except for those in the service of the Queen, so most common people went to Tarrant more often than not. She had offered him help with his hatting and sewing, but he had politely declined her offer also. She admitted that her sewing skills probably wouldn't be good enough to serve as any help, but Tarrant told her that her level of skill was not his reason for declining.

This of course had made her wonder exactly why he had denied her help, and she asked him about it. He insisted that he was just worried about exposing her to mercury fumes, "They're much too strong." He would say as he walked into his work shop clutching the sketchbook that she had returned to him. She still had yet to bring up any of her questions with him, not why he drew her, not how he knew she was coming, and definitely not why he was constantly in her dreams. They were all questions that needed asking and answers she needed to know, but it just seems that she could never find the right time to ask him. Whenever she wanted to ask him, he was far too busy and in the rare moments that he was free, it seemed that she could not muster up the courage to ask him. They were on completely different schedules, and as it seemed, until the ball, they would both be far too busy to talk anything more than idle chit chat.

The only one who ever seemed to be around was Chess, and he just popped in from time to time to spend a few moments speaking with Alice. He would tell her things from all around Underland, always things that interested her, but never the answers to any of her questions. In fact, if she asked him anything pertaining to her questions, he would answer her with indirect sayings or messages simply making no sense to her, and then would disappear. Eventually, she simply gave up all together on asking him questions pertaining to Tarrant and her dreams. As a general rule she found that if chess wouldn't tell her something, it was something that she really should not know, especially because of the cat's fondness towards her.

Just as she thought about this, she saw an extremely familiar blue and grey striped ball of furry mist appear at her side. She found that very often, he would appear when she thought about him and wondered if he did as such on purpose. However, needing company in order to keep her sanity and kill a little time, she thought it best to not ask too many questions that were too curious for her own good. "Hello Cheshire." She said as she rinsed yet another cup and set it on the counter with the rest to eventually be dried. It scared her a little how she seemed to now be doing the dishes so robotically, but figured that it was less of a chore that way.

"Hello my dear Alice…" He said in his usual drawling stretched our manner of speaking, "Long time no chat."

They had spoken briefly the last night, but of course the conversation had gotten on to her dreams and she had again been left alone by her feline friend. She decided to start out today on an innocent subject, "What have you been up to today?" She asked not looking up from her work at all, knowing that Chess wouldn't mind.

Chess, in a strange attempt to help someone other than himself for once, floated over to the counter full of wet cups and began to dry them with a nearby cloth. It made Alice fear that there was something wrong, but with nothing to go on but his sudden act of kindness, she said nothing. "Oh, I was to the castle today… its quite lovely this time of year, and the gardens…" He sighed longingly, "Oh, the gardens were simply gorgeous." He smiled fondly, which of course with his Cheshire smile, showed all the points of his sharp as knives teeth.

"Oh really?" Alice asked with a light smile nowhere near the grandeur of her friends. "Did you happen to hear anything new about the party?" She asked, curiosity, as always getting the best of her.

Chess not even a second after hearing these words dropped a tea cup in what Alice could only describe as shock. In all her life, she had never seen chess look nervous, as he did now. The cup smashed on the floor, but neither paid any attention to it. "I'm afraid I have to go now Alice…" Chess said his discomfort and anxiety rising with each passing moment. As he became more and more uneasy, so did Alice. She had heard from Tarrant that Chess was a coward, but never, ever, had she seen him afraid.

"Please Chess… don't leave… I'm sorry I asked…" Alice said hastily, trying her hardest to get him to stay. She didn't want to be left alone again, and it showed.

"I'm sorry Alice… but I must. People like me… we know things, and we're not supposed to tell… but I need to tell you and I can't… do you know what that does to a person… it makes them mad Alice, madder than your hatter..." Suddenly, he seemed to lose control as he spoke, " `Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe. "Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun The frumious Bandersnatch!" He covered his mouth with his paw and began to fade away, "Goodbye dear Alice… I fear I have said too much…" He disappeared completely with a snap in a time so fast one could barely blink.

"Wait!" Alice called after him, but to no avail, as it seemed, she could not catch a break today, nor could she figure out all the madness that seemed to occur around her lately. Everything was moving so fast, and it was all too difficult to understand. She had more questions than answers and feared that soon she would lose her mind from all the wondering she had done lately. She bent over to clean up the shattered tea cup if only to make her hands do something and make her mind stop for just a moment or two.

"What's wrong? I heard a crash!" a very worried looking Tarrant said from the kitchen doorway. He looked like he had just ran, more than likely from the front door, to her after hearing all the commotion. "Alice, are you alright?"

Alice scarcely had time to think before Tarrant was next to her picking up bits of broken Porcelain. "Don't worry Alice… it's just a broken tea cup… happens all the time to poor Thackery, no need for the yelling you were doing… After all, don't cry over split china… or is it spilt milk, I do always seem to forget."

Alice was glad to have someone with her at the moment, but she wasn't sure how long he would stay near her or how busy he was. She dreaded to think that he was going to spend another all-nighter in his small workshop that she was forbidden to enter until further notice. She didn't think about what she was about to say, all her tact for the day had just gone out the window, or more literally had vanished in thin air. "Why have you been in all my dreams?" It just came out of her mouth before she could think of a better way to phrase it or a better way to approach the subject, but no it was there at least. It was out in the open.

The Hatter, with his hand full of broken China fragments, closed his hand into a tight fist and looked her in the eye with the blank look he always gives before he goes on one of his rants, but this time, there was no rant. His eyes which were staring so blankly into hers simply turned bright red, as did his cheeks as he walked away. On his way out, Alice saw a drop of blood fall from his hand to the floor, and she saw the spatter it created on the ground… she had come up with a million different reactions of what he could do when she finally asked him, but of all the things she could have expected… that was not it…

Suddenly overcome by emotion, tears rolled down her cheeks, only to spatter on the floor like the blood from his hands. Alice, as she curled up on the floor next to still broken shards of tea cup, had never felt so alone in her whole life.


	10. You Found Me Bleeding

Hello my dear readers. I hope you enjoy this chapter, though I am sorry to say that it may be my last. If fanfiction is really shutting down and banning accounts, I fear my time will come very very soon. I wrote a one-shot sometime ago, that broke a rule or two... and unfortuantly it was in the Naruto category, so they'll probably find it soon. I suppose I could juts remove it, but for it being 17,000 words long, I really don't want to remove it. I put my blood, sweat and tears int writing that story, and I'll be darned if I'm going to take it down now. Regardless of whether or not they take my story or account down, you may not be seeing me for a long time. I'm extremely saddened by the destruction of these stories, and the leaving of most of my favorite writers. As an author and a reader, I feel that for the time being I am leaving fanfiction. I may or may not come back, but if I do return, I promise to finish this tale for you. In the meantime, enjoy this chapter and feel free to email me at punkpoemprose with any questions. Please put fanfiction in the subject line if you decide to email me, so I don't delete it.

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><p><em> Laying next to shards of broken tea cup, she must have fallen asleep, because she now found herself in the dream world that made even less sense than Underland usually did. As usual, everything was darker than usual and she could see herself sleeping. She somehow knew that she wouldn't just happen upon Tarrant as she usually did. No, she knew that she needed to find him. She wasn't sure why she did, but she knew that she needed to. She stood up and away from herself and began to run in the direction in which he had left. Everything was dark and in the dream world it was hard to tell up from down. There was, however, something to lead her to him. <em>

_In the dark world, there were spatters of what she could only imagine was the Hatter's blood on the ground. But instead of being red and hard to see as blood usually was, it glowed with a pale blue light and led her to where she needed to go. She ran and ran and ran into Tugley wood, following the path painted in blood until she found who she was looking for. The Hatter, laying on the ground, curled up, but not asleep… that's why it took her so long to find him… but if he wasn't asleep… that meant they weren't sharing dreams… and if they weren't sharing dreams… what was going on._

"_Astral Projection." Said an echoing voice from behind her. It sounded somewhat familiar, and she wanted to see who said it, but whoever it was, was far deeper in the woods and she was unwilling to leave the side of the Hatter. _

"_Astral Projection…" She repeated, not quite understanding what it meant. "What does that mean?" She asked hoping the voice was still in ear shot and would answer her._

"_All will be revealed in due course…Queen Alice."_

Suddenly she was back in reality, back in her body, and back lying next to tears and broken bits of China. "Hatter!" She screamed, it was still dark out, not as dark as her dream world, but as dark as it always was during Nighttime in Underland. She stood up quickly and lost her balance, clattering back to the floor and cutting her hand, just as the hatter had on a piece of broken cup. Her blood, however, flowed red, as it should, and she stood up again, staunching the flow on her dress. She hated to ruin a dress that the Hatter had worked so hard on, but for now she had to focus on finding him.

She tried to remember the path she had followed in her dream world, and succeeded in finding the correct path at the end of which she would hopefully find the Hatter. She ran faster than she had ever run before and for some reason, she knew that she had to hurry. "Tarrant!" She screamed as she ran down the path, her tears were hitting the ground, and even though her eyes stung, she ran to him. She knew she had to get to him, to save him from something she wasn't even sure of. She remembered what Chess had said, about there being creatures in Tugley wood. She was so afraid for him being alone, and bleeding, that she didn't even care that she was bleeding herself, nor did she care that every once and a while she would stumble over a tree root or a rock. She didn't care about anything other than finding him and making sure he was safe.

She couldn't stop crying and as she cried, she screamed out his name again, "Tarrant!" Her voice was strong and loud in her desperation. She knew she was getting close, why wouldn't he answer her. She couldn't help but think that maybe she was too late, and whatever she was so worried about had already happened. She tried to shake off the fear as she ran, but couldn't, so she ran even faster than before, desperate to find him. And find him she did. He was curled up just as he had been in her "dreams".

"Tarrant." She said once more as she fell to her knees and cried directly in front of him. She was so glad he was there, and she wasn't even sure if he was okay yet. "Tarrant, are you alright?" She said with tears in her eyes as she crawled towards him.

He turned to face her and he too began to cry, "Alice… I don't know what's going on… How can you… how can we?"  
>"Astral Project?" She said through her tears, "I don't know… I don't even know what it is."<p>

"It's the ability to walk outside of yourself while asleep… to walk in the world of dreams… to see others that can do it, but its reserved only for royalty. Only for those who are one of the Kings or Queens of Underland. It makes no sense Alice; I am in the service of my Queen, my only Queen… THE ONLY QUEEN. How can we do this if we are not royalty, how can any of this happen? I've been asking myself this since the beginning, thinking that if only you and I know about it that everything will be fine and nothing will happen, but still we are apparently King and Queen. It makes no sense, no sense at all and I know almost everything there is to know about making no sense… what have we done Alice, what have we done?"

Suddenly things started making sense, and other things just created more questions. It now made sense why Chess, Mali, and even Thackery had told her to not ask questions about it, and it made sense why the voice had called her "Queen Alice". It didn't make sense that she was able to do it, and it didn't make sense that she was royal but not. She had a million and one questions and barely any answers. "What are we going to do…" She asked softly as she pulled herself all the way close to him. She was so confused and utterly lost. All she knew was that the only one that knew what she was going through and felt the same way she did was Tarrant, and she needed him.

She reached out her hand to touch his, "What are we going to do?" She repeated.

His hand was still bleeding, and so was hers, but before she could touch them, he pulled his away. "Don't!" He said as he pulled his hand away, "There's power in blood Alice. Don't do it."

"Do what?" She asked, finally stopping crying and sitting up to look at him better.

"Don't let our blood touch like that… it's a form of marriage… and I guarantee it won't help right now."

"None of this makes any sense…" She said confused, completely and utterly confused.

"Glad we're on the same page." He said standing up with a smile and taking her not bleeding hand with his not bleeding hand.

Sometimes his quickly changing moods gave her whiplash, and right now, she had no idea what to do or how to do it. So instead of asking any more questions, she just followed his lead and walked out of the woods and back to the windmill house. Nothing was making sense, and they both knew it.


	11. Waking Up To a Surprise

I'm so sorry for the lack of updates lately guys... I don't really have internet access at my house right now so I have to have my mother bring me to the Library in order to update (New York State Law about Permits put me a year away from getting my license at this point... stupid state). The library is a half hour away from my home and I don't like to bother her about bringing me. Regardless that's not a good excuse for me not typing as often as I should. The purges disheartened me quite a bit and I blame that a bit, but still I shouldn't make excuses for myself. I promise that once school comes back into session and they finally put DSL (as promised) into my neighborhood (I live in the middle of nowhere... great view, but no cell service or internet access other than satellite or dial up) , you will all receive faster updates! Please believe in me and continue to give your support and amazing reviews! They mean the world to me! Also if you're looking for Alice x Hatter fluff, check out my story Alphabetical Alice.

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><p>As Alice opened her eyes, she knew something was strange. She had walked home with the Hatter in the middle of the night, but had no memory of returning home or falling asleep. What confused her even more was the fact that she was staring at a familiar, yet unfamiliar ceiling. She was in the windmill home, but not in her room, and certainly not in her bed.<p>

She pulled herself out from the blankets and pulled the covers back with her hands. One hand, which she now saw was bandaged. She remembered that it had been bleeding before she had fallen asleep, and that it was not bandaged; only staunched by her grip on her dress. As she sat up in the bed and uncovered herself, she saw that she was still wearing the same dress and that it was bloody. Suddenly everything made sense to her. "Hatter?" She called out softly knowing that she was in his bedroom, but not seeing him anywhere.

"He's in his workshop my dear Alice…" Said a familiar drawl from behind her.

"Thank you for passing that information onto me Cheshire." Alice said, still annoyed with him for never directly answering her questions. "I don't suppose you'll be answering any other questions today though, will you?"

"No." He said as he disappeared and reappeared in front of her. "Only one free question per day I'm afraid, however I'm always here if you're looking for unwanted advice."

"I don't need your advice." Alice scoffed, annoyed beyond all normal realms of general irritation.

"Well it would hardly be unwanted if you did, now would it?" He replied as though she had been completely redundant in her notions. "Now put something pretty on if you're looking to impress him… after all he did carry you home after you collapsed last night."

"Collapsed?" She questioned. She didn't remember much of anything let alone collapsing, but she supposed that it would make sense that she didn't remember much if she did collapse.

"Now, now Alice, I just told you one question per day, no more." He was just being mischievous to anger her at this point, but in reality he did know how much she was going through. He knew all of the happenings of Underland, law bound to not speak of any secrets, but still he knew them all. He was partial to Alice and wanted to tell her everything she needed to know, but he couldn't if he wanted to keep his tail. So rather than do what he wasn't supposed to, he acted annoying to cope and keep his mouth shut as he had not the day previous. "However, more unwanted advice… you may want to bathe and wash those sheets… with all the dried blood and what not… Really that mad man bandaged your hand but not his own… sometimes I wonder if he thinks at all…"

With that, Chess disappeared without another word and allowed Alice's mind to work out the information he had given her but not given her at the same time. Like she had thought, the Hatter had bandaged her hand and allowed her to sleep in his bed, but there were now new questions she hadn't thought of before. When and why had she passed out? Why had the hatter brought her to his bed? Had he slept next to her?

A warm blush appeared on Alice's cheeks involuntarily as she thought about the last question. It would explain all the blood on the sheets, because not all of it had rubbed off from her dress and skin on which it had dried. It was more than likely that it came from the Hatter who according to Chess had not bound his wound. Though on levels of importance Alice had many more imperative things on her mind, at the moment her thoughts were all on Tarrant and what exactly had happened last night. She stood up from the bed and remembered what Chess had said about Tarrant being in his workshop. He had told her to stay out, but at this point, how could she? There were so many questions she had, and so many things she had to say to him.

For now, something else Cheshire had said had her attention. He had told her to bathe and make herself look attractive, and for as much as she knew it was unnecessary, the girl with a crush inside of her screamed for her to do it. Who would have guessed that the damn cat would act as an actual decent advice giver? Maybe the Queen hadn't been wrong in looking for him as an advisor, even if her idea of advisor was a know it all lap cat.

Taking a quick look around Tarrant's bedroom, Alice smiled. There were bits of fabric almost everywhere, with quite a few tea cups on the night stand next to his bed. His bed was actually rather large, probably a queen or king size, with deep scarlet colored soft sheets and a navy blue colored quilt on top. He had a plethora of pillows on top of the bed, though they were in many different colors and patterns that didn't match each other at all. Against the wall he had a few book cases with books of all sizes and colors, and a desk. On top of that desk, there were plenty of art supplies and sketch books as well as many more bits of material and sewing supplies. In the eyes of any conventional person, his room was a mess, but it looked to be very clean, and Alice liked all the organized chaos. The room was a lot like the man who lived in it; quirky, fun, unconventional, charming, and incredibly mad.

She shook her head of her previous thoughts and walked out and into her bedroom in which she would pick out an outfit and bathe quickly before attempting to find the hatter.

For today she chose another of the Hatter's lovely handmade dresses. This time it was a sun dress, lavender in color with a black ribbon corset lacing on the front. It was of course, merely for decoration, and the dress was heavily lined in the top so that an actual corset would never be needed. She admired his memory and attention to detail; it was amazing that he had remembered her abhorrence for corsets after all the time that had passed them by.

She brought the dress, some fresh underclothes, a hair brush, and a black pair of saddle shoes into the bathroom with her and set them on the counter close to the sink as she drew her bath. After a moment in the bathroom cabinet she found a differently scented soap than what she had been using recently. This soap and the shampoo that matched it had a floral feminine scent. It was sweet pea violet scented and as soon as she used it she was brought back to her childhood. Specifically, she remembered her first meeting with the tall flowers, where they had told her that her petals drooped and treated her rudely. Not that they really knew any better, they were a catty bunch by nature, and ironically the Tiger lily was the nicest of all. Regardless of how they had treated her, the garden had the most pungently wonderful smell of flowers, and that was what the soaps reminded her of.

Before getting in the tub, Alice disrobed and removed her hand's bandaging. The wound had closed up and was already covered by a scab. Alice was sure that as long as she didn't move it too much, that it would heal nicely. She wondered if it would leave a scar. She didn't mind if it did or not, because after all, another scar was just another story to tell. At this point however, she wasn't sure if she would ever be able to share her story. At the moment she wasn't sure what her story even was… The dream walking… Astral Projection… it was all just so odd and she couldn't understand. She had so many questions and so precious few answers. It was like someone was doing all this on purpose, confusing her and giving her half-truths to keep her guessing but never knowing it all. If she had to guess who would be behind it, she would have to say Cheshire, but he didn't exactly make sense in that role. After all, he wasn't the type to do something so elaborately planned like this, not to mention he seemed to be under duress every time they were together… It was obvious that he was involved, but he wasn't the brains behind it… just a pawn in it all like her.

Alice washed herself clean of her blood and that which may have been the Hatters, and towel dried herself off. She drained the tub and came out as clean and fresh as a daisy, or in the case of her shampoo of choice, as fresh as a Sweet pea.

She got dressed quickly and pulled her still wet hair back into a pony tail. Usually she just let it stay as it was and air dry, but she didn't really have the time for it today. She pulled on her shoes and quickly spritzed herself with a cherry blossom scented perfume that was on the sink. As she rewrapped her hand as a precaution, she felt pretty good about herself, and hoped that her self-confidence would carry through in her approach of him. After all, they had been through a lot and she needed to thank him for what he had done last night. They were mostly on even footing now with neither knowing more than the other for the questions that they still had.

She left her room and walked out to his workshop taking a deep breath before opening the door. He had specifically told her not to enter the place, but as she turned that door knob, she was throwing caution completely to the wind.

"Alice!" The Hatter shouted as he immediately saw her trying to sneak in. "I told you not to come out here." He said it, but it didn't sound as if he was chiding her, rather it sounded like he was surprised it had taken her so long to break his rule.

"Yes, I know, mercury fumes and all…" She said with a smile reminiscent of a child caught doing something naughty. She was wondering how he was going to react next, but even more than that she was wondering what the true reason was behind him not wanting her out here. After all, she was naturally curious and he must have known that she was going to look at some point.

He just shook his head, there was no real reason to keep this from her any longer… after all, they were going through so much together and she was going to see it tomorrow anyway. "Honestly I had a better reason to keep you out of here… after all, it was meant to be a surprise… a secret… a secret surprise I was trying to hide from your curiosities… but they seem to be a bit too curious for me Alice…" He laughed one of his mad laughs and reached back to take her hand.

His hand had stopped bleeding at this point, but he supposed that he should have bandaged it last night… but he had been too flustered, confused, and tried to take care of himself… after all had had Alice to care for and he had been so focused on her that he hadn't even thought a moment for himself… He hadn't even bothered to change last night before falling asleep… next to Alice.

He blushed fuchsia; he still couldn't believe that he had done that. It was such a breach of propriety, but with all that they had been through and his mounting emotional distress… he hadn't been able to think about anything else… If he slept alone last night he was sure that he wouldn't have been able to even close his very heavy, tired eyes for fear of what would happen if he did.

He led her to the back of his workshop and tried to rid his mind of all the horrors and pleasures of the night before. He didn't want to think about insecurities or fears or even what was happening to them. For now he only wanted to think about what her face would look like when she saw her surprise. He had been working on it so long and had hoped beyond hope that she would like it… and now it was the moment of truth. "Close your eyes Alice…" He said softly as he walked himself over to the 'surprise' which was covered by a sheet.

She obliged, rather confused, but at the same time excited beyond all normal realms of excitement. She wondered what on earth he had been so secretive about. It wasn't like Tarrant to keep secrets and she wasn't entirely sure why he would keep anything from her… after all, they were so close… best friends, roommates, and maybe more. She was suddenly thinking again about what Cheshire had said… had they slept in the same bed last night? She blushed at the thought… she had slept unusually well, and sleeping next to the Hatter made for the perfect explanation.

Her removed the sheet with a flourish and smiled at his creation. "Open your eyes Alice…"


	12. Secrets Revaled

Sorry for the Cliff hanger last time guys! I promise there won't be one this time! I've written one long chapter and one short chapter for y'all, and I hope you enjoy it! I feel bad about the wonky update schedule lately, but I want to let you guys know, we're coming to the end of Loving Madness! there will probably be between three and seven more chapters coming up, then it will be done! But don't worry, I already have some one shots and a new story to come soon. Also, there will be more constant updates for Alphabetical Alice, and I would love to hear some new ideas or thoughts you all have for it or a possible new story! As always please enjoy reading and I love to see your reviews (Though due to my current internet status I have been unable to thank you all, so thanks for the reviews!)

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><p>When Alice turned around, she was immediately struck by surprise, she had supposed that he had made her a gift, but she could never in her wildest imagination envision anything so beautiful.<p>

"Blue is your favorite color isn't it?" He said nervously. He had never thought to ask her for her favorite color before. He had just always seen her wear it and thought it looked good on her, but honestly he didn't know if she liked blue or not. Maybe she liked purple… after all, she was wearing purple now and was looking absolutely lovely. Looking at her took his breath away… it always did, but now especially. When he had laid her in bed last night, she had looked so fragile and small, gorgeous as usual, but brittle. It was in complete and total contrast with how she looked now. She had obviously just bathed, her long hair was in a wet ponytail, and he could smell her shampoo from where he was standing. She was clean, neat, and put together. She was breath taking, and more than that, she was looking like she was back to her usual muchness.

He looked at her a bit more closely. She was wearing a dress that was short by the standards of English society, and it was even a little shy of proper length for Underland's courts. Generally the people didn't care about rules of dressing, but it didn't matter anyway because she wasn't out and about… just at home with him. He wondered why he had made her a dress that short anyway… it was above the knee slightly, but it was wonderful on her. She was showing a lot of leg, and as usual she wasn't wearing stockings… why would she? She was Alice, beautiful, strong, independent, and unique Alice. She didn't need stockings or anything else… though he would prefer she wore something… because at the moment he was blushing, and he could only imagine his embarrassment if she were wearing nothing. He put all of that out of his mind and tried to focus again on the here and now.

She was speechless, "Of course… I love blue…" She could hardly believe what was in front of her. On a wire dress maker's dummy, there was the most beautiful gown she had seen in her life. It was elegant, unique, classic, yet tastefully low cut at the same time. It was an almost white pale blue color with what seemed to be hand sewn crystal beading in the shape of small flowers and vines. The top was strapless with a corset lacing on the back and a waistline wrapped by cloth that created a waist slightly higher than natural. That waistline made the skirt of the floor length gown look even longer than natural. The skirt picked up slightly on one side, and the beading was majorly on the top, but filtered down towards the bottom lightly so that there was a sprinkle of crystals at the very bottom. It was a gown fit for royalty, and had it been completely white, she would have thought that it was made for the White Queen herself… had it been smaller, she would have thought it was meant for Lily. Of course, this wasn't the first time the theme of royalty had come up recently… after all, last night's odd happenings had their roots in monarchy.

She didn't want to think about it… she didn't want to think about it at all, not when today was going well. She wasn't going to make today like yesterday or last night. They had enough to worry about without that subject being dredged up… after all, the party was going to be tomorrow regardless of how last night, today, or tonight went… so if she had the power to do so, she wanted to keep today mellow and calm without drama or more unwanted surprises… "Tarrant… It's beautiful!" She was so shocked and excited that she could barely speak, all her words coming out in a whisper.

He smiled lightly, he had hoped that she would like it, but he wasn't at all expecting her reaction to be so zealous. "I'm glad you like it Alice… I was so worried you'd hate it or that the color was wrong or that you would dislike something about it… Do you dislike something about it? I can shorten it or lengthen it. Or add straps or maybe bring up the neckline… I don't know why I made it so plunging… that's not proper… I'm so sorry Alice, it's my fault… I'll fix it right away… I promise I will… I swear I…"

"Hatter!", Alice interrupted him knowing that yelling was the only way to get his attention.

"Will…" He finished and took a moment to breathe before adding, " Thank you Alice, I was getting ahead of myself."

She smiled at him, "It's no problem… and honestly Tarrant, I don't want you to change a thing… I love it."

It was now his turn to be shocked. He was so surprised at her saying that, that his mouth hung open a bit. "Really?" He asked, still unsure of whether or not he had heard her correctly.

"Really." She responded being completely and totally serious with him. "I honestly wouldn't change a single thing about it. It's utterly perfect for me and I love it."

He knew from her tone that she wasn't kidding and almost felt like dancing right there and then. He felt giddy, and no amount of strangeness from the last few days could change or take that away from him. He felt like he and Alice were finally getting somewhere outside of the dream stride that he had just thought to be very vivid dreams. He hadn't known until just days ago what the "dreams" truly were, but had he known that they were truly astral projection; he probably wouldn't have done anything any differently… He was loyal to only his Queen… and the woman he had come to love… However if this whole situation of astral projection and royalty worked out to be something that he hadn't originally expected… his loyalties may switch sides from her royal majesty, to the Queen of his dreams.

"Alice?" He said softly, now experiencing one of his rare moments of complete and total clear mindedness.

"Yes Tarrant?" Alice responded questioningly, curious as to hear what he would say next. If it was more insisting on changing the dress, she would have to find a better way than just speaking to his to get through to him that it was perfect and wouldn't need any changes at all.

"Come with me… I have something else for you too…" Her extended his hand out to her. He hadn't planned on her coming out into the workshop, and he hadn't had anything planned for today, but he had taken the time to plan something from the moment she returned. Since then, this plan had been waiting in the wings, waiting for just the right moment to perform it. He had even been carrying the box with him since the day she came back, waiting for when the moment was just right and for him to have the courage to do it.

She took his hand in hers and gently laced her fingers through his. The little mercury stains didn't bother her at all as he brought her through his work shop and out the back door. He lead her from the clearing into the woods and didn't say a word at all. She didn't question him. She didn't know of many people she could trust in her life, but if she had to make a list… a very short list as it would be, Tarrant would probably be on the very top. He had never, to her knowledge, honestly lied to her, and she appreciated that. Of course there had been little white lies, jokes and tricks between them every here and there, but she knew that she could trust him to never hurt her and never lie to her. It was a good feeling to be able to trust him, but the better feeling at the moment was her feeling of suspense and excitement in wondering where they were going and what exactly he had to give her in the woods.

He had been giving her so many gifts lately, and while she almost always remembered to thank him, she felt as though she should do more… like she should possibly get him a gift in return. She tried to brainstorm ideas as they walked, and she promised herself that once all the craziness ended, she was going to get him a wondrous thank you gift… something as unique as him.

The Hatter kept walking until they were deep into the woods and were in just the right spot. The place was far enough away from anyone or anything that they would not be disturbed, but at the same time, it hadn't been too long of a walk. It featured a fallen log the was still partially connected and worked well as a seat… a seat to which he now gestured Alice.

Though Alice found herself unwilling to release his hand, she did so at the request of his body language. She sat up on the log with little trouble and crossed her legs in a hopefully lady like manner, curiosity was getting the best of her once again.

"Alice…" The mad man began after taking a deep breath, "I really like being around you… you make me feel less… less mad. You're something special and you make me feel happy… happier than hats or tea. I think I've never felt this way before… rather I know I've never felt this was before. It's like when you came back, everything got better… even with this mess we're in… but never mind that now… what I mean is… I want you to stay here with me and Mali, Thackery, and even Chess… because I don't know how we all got on without you before, and without you things were a terrible mess… Really I mean both literally and figuratively things were messy… terribly messy… When…"

"Hatter!" Alice said with a smile and a laugh. He was getting so very off topic and though she didn't mind it, she knew that he was trying to get somewhere with it all.

"Sorry…" He said with a nervous laugh, "Got carried away there for a moment." As he said this he grabbed a small box out of his pocket and offered it to her.

She took it gingerly and looked at him before opening it. He grinned with a large mad man's smile and gestured for her to open it. He seemed very excited so without wasting any more time, she opened the box and was stunned at what was within.

"It was my mother's." The Hatter said referring to the breathtaking sapphire and crystal amulet that he had just given Alice. It consisted of a large sapphire pendant with dark metal vines surrounding it. On the place where the vines all met, there was a single small clear crystal. The chain was silver and quite heavy, which was good for Alice with her clumsiness and knack for breaking things. "I wanted you to have it." He added.

"It's gorgeous!" Alice said barely believing what she was holding in her hands… It was the most lovely necklace she had seen in her life, and the sheer fact that it was a family heirloom made Alice feel as if it were all the more special. "Could you help me put it on?" She asked for more of an intimate moment rather than necessity. The clasp looked simple enough and she could probably put it on herself, but enlisting Tarrant's help seemed to feel more right more the moment.

"Of course." He said as she handed him the necklace and turned around so that her back faced him. He could hardly believe that things had gone so well today. He was smiling from ear to ear and feeling that everything was going perfectly… forgetting completely about the night previous, he just was as happy as can be.

She reached back to keep her ponytail out of the way while he put the necklace on her. She felt his hands brush the side of her neck and her shoulders as he put it on her. He was acting as a perfect gentleman would, even checking to make sure it was the right way before clasping it. When he had finished, she felt his hands linger away and a small drop from the necklace when he released it. It was lovely, and just the right length to go with the dress he had given her. It was at a length so that the very end of the necklace was less than an inch above her breasts. With the neckline of the dress being low, it seemed as if this necklace were made to fill the gap.

Without thinking, she turned around to see his smiling face and threw her arms around him tightly, "Thank you Tarrant!" She said ardently as she felt his arms surround her in return. "It's perfect! I can't thank you enough!"

He blushed as he smiled broadly, this was more than he bargained for, and he loved every moment of it. Alice looked so happy and she was embracing him with such a force that he had never before seen. Seeing her happy made him happy, and it made him think about the possibility of what life could have in store for them after the mess was resolved and the figured out what was going on. Would everyday be like this? He certainly hoped so.

Alice, with all her muchness was not done thanking him. She was so happy and excited and otherwise enthralled in the moment that she let herself go and did the thing she had been dreaming of for six years. She let her hold on him slack slightly and stood up on her tiptoes… he was such a tall man and while she was by no means a short woman, to catch him off guard she needed every inch of height she could spare. She blushed and thanked God once more that she was not in the realms of proper English etiquette… after all she could never do anything like this back home. She kissed him, it was a soft, chaste, and quick kiss, but never the less, a kiss. A kiss on the lips at that!

She'd never kissed a man, nor had she ever been kissed… it was a strange new sensation to her. Feelings welled up in her instantly, feelings she didn't immediately understand. She felt them all in a rush. She felt happy, enthusiastic, ecstatic, and elated, but at the same time she felt worried, fearful, and anxious for his reaction. She was never sure what Tarrant would do next, and right now was no exception to the rule. She was positively clueless of what he was going to do next, but she knew that she feared the worst… his rejection would break her heart. She could only hope she hadn't thrown everything away with just a small act of her ever present muchness.

She had grown up so much… he had noticed it before, but now in was in his face. She was a grown woman… who had just kissed him. He was flabbergasted and beyond surprised, but he didn't want to waste a single moment. He'd never kissed anyone before, but the madness and excitement that welled up inside of him made him come to a split second decision, he loved Alice, and she had kissed him… He was finally going to let his love… his mad love show.

Where her kiss had been rushed, chaste, and soft, his was passionate, and lingering, yet sudden. Her hands were still slackened around him, so he took advantage and lifted her up off the ground. She had no time to react to the suddenness of what was happening as his lips slanted on hers. He was going to be damned if he was going to give her a moment to second guess what she had just done… They were alone together, no one could see what was happening, and even if they did, he didn't care. He loved her, and as long as she had no objections, he wasn't going to let that love lay dormant a moment longer. He didn't care what the future held, nor did he care about what was happening to him, all her cared about was that Alice… his Alice was shown exactly how much love he had been hiding in his heart for the past six years.

His kiss came so suddenly that she had scarcely the time to realize what was happening. All she could do was kiss him back and dispel all the nagging thoughts in the back of her mind that said he didn't feel the same as she did. It was unspoken all this time, but now she could really see it, they were in love… he had gone crazy without her, and not being around him had made her feel sad. Now that they were back together all of this had just been a matter if time. He broke the kiss expectantly leaving her wanting more.

He set her back on the ground and knew what he wanted to do next, but he suddenly lost his nerve. He regained it however when he looked into her eyes, they were full of happiness and caring with what seemed to be a twinge of desire. "I love you Alice Kingsley!" He said finally after years and years of thinking about it.

He had said it… he had finally said it, and she knew as soon as she heard it that nothing would ever be the same. She smiled, knowing that she didn't have to hide it anymore… she could finally say what she wanted to say so badly. "I love you too Tarrant!"

She had spent years alone in England and China and everywhere else her travels brought her, only to go back to the land of madness and find love. It all seemed like a fairy tale to her, but she knew that they weren't quite to the happily ever after yet. She wanted to be there, but alas, there was still so much she had to go through to get there. She knew that there were questions that needed answers and plans that needed to be made, but at the moment there was nothing more she wanted to do than be with her favorite mad man. Maybe they would talk, but not about their questions or worries… maybe they would just talk about the last six years or what had happened before then… maybe they would talk about the future, or maybe they wouldn't talk at all. Regardless of whether or not they would speak, everything was out in the open now, and they could finally get to doing what they had both wanted to do for a very long time.

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><p>Yay I finally got down to some kissing! Please read, review, and enjoy the next chapter. Warning though its of little real substance... mostly fluff, but I do love me a bit of fluff!<p> 


	13. Nightmares

Fluffy fluffy fluffiness! But this beginning part is slightly important if anyone wants to skip the fluff...

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><p>"<em>Beware the Jabberwock, dear Alice! The jaws that bite and the claws that catch! Yet no longer fear the Jubjub bird nor the much calmed Bandersnatch… Secrets have been hidden and secrets have been told, fear not the dead but instead the Queen of old. When dawn comes alight new rulers will come, no longer champion, but still the one who won."<em>

_She heard the ominous voice and knew that she must be once again sleeping and dreaming, or astral projecting as she had recently learned it was called. Things were different this time though… she wasn't in her bedroom or anywhere else that she recognized. Rather, she did recognize where she was, but she hadn't the foggiest clue on how she had gotten there. She was in the sky, just floating about, flying above it all. She could see only darkness below her, but all around there were lightly glowing stars. Some so close she could reach out and touch them if she wished… but she didn't. She had better things to do, like find the source of the familiar yet unfamiliar voice. _

_There was no one to be seen near her, but at the same time she sensed a presence that was just out of sight no matter how far she moved. Then she felt another presence that made her blood run cold. There was someone behind her, and it wasn't a good thing._

"_My old foe…" Said the voice of whatever was behind her… but it was strange. It wasn't a single pitched voice. It was instead the sound of two voices speaking in unison… the voice of a woman and the harsh sound of something that was completely and totally inhuman all together._

_Alice wanted to run away, far away from the presence, but could not command her legs to move or her head to look back before she felt a force hit her hard in the back of the head and she found herself falling… falling as usual, but not down any rabbit hole. She was falling from the sky, plummeting from the stars into the black abyss below her with the cackle of evil laughter ringing in her ears… she couldn't do anything except scream._

And scream she did. She woke up to the sound of her own voice screaming bloody murder… and the sound of something else.

"Alice! Are you alright? Alice!" Tarrant was shouting over the sound of her screams… he was shaking her too… he was trying to snap her out of it… to wake her up from her nightmare and to let her know everything was going to be fine.

She stopped screaming and took in her surroundings… She was in bed in a dark room… Tarrant's room from what she could gather. He was next to her in the bed, though they were both now upright. She must have sat up as she awoke, and he must have sat up to calm her. She tried to relax, and she admitted that his presence comforted her into a state in which she could at least think.

So she thought about and remembered what had occurred to put her in her current position. It had been after the kissing, and Tarrant had scooped her up in his mad glee and carried her back home… just in time for tea with Mali and Thackery. They had kept quiet about what had just happened, and didn't breathe a word on the subject… Maliumpkin had seemed to know that there was something they weren't saying, but she didn't pry. After tea Mali and Thackery left to do last minute work in preparation for the ball. Leaving meant that Alice and Tarrant were once again alone.

Rather than do too much too fast, Tarrant had told Alice that he too had last minute orders to fill for hats and such for the ball. She had offered to assist him, but he had denied her help at first. Eventually though she had helped him put finishing touches like ribbons, feathers, and beading on to his hats. She was terrible at sewing, however, and he had laughed for hours at the jumble of thread she had called a stitch. He had left her only with small jobs not requiring sewing, and though usually not doing the hard work bothered her, Alice knew it was for the best.

She had decorated and packaged hats with him for hours, talking about this and that for hours and hours until eventually everything was finished. She had even cleaned up his workshop and had given all the packages to Bayard and his pups to deliver. They had eaten after that and had ultimately gone to bed in their own rooms… until she had crossed the hall in the middle of the night in her nightgown unable to sleep. She had found him wide awake in his bed and had tried to sneak back to her room in embarrassment, but he had caught her and invited her to spend the night with him… He was shirtless and as she found after crawling into bed with him… his bare chest made an excellent pillow. They had both fallen asleep and all had been well… until now.

"Are you alright Alice?" He asked again, worried about her and wondering why she had suddenly woken up… especially why she had woken up screaming so loudly.

"I'm fine…" She said before pausing a moment and adding a single word in explanation, "Nightmare…"

"A nightmare…" He repeated, "Oh I know just the thing for nightmares… used to have them all the time myself, especially as a child… I still have them now though…. Not always, but from time to time… frightening is what they are… truly scary and all… I think they should be outlawed, banned maybe… something truly inspired I suppose, banning nightmares… They would have to make a dream police wouldn't they… It would be odd, wouldn't it be Alice?"

She smiled, he was crazy, but at least he always knew what to say to cheer her up. "Simply preposterous!" She agreed. "But you never know what's possible or not in Wonderland."

"Underland." He corrected with a grin. He hadn't told her yet how much he loved it when she called their world Wonderland. Absolem and McTwisp hated it, but it had always made him smile. "Now about the perfect thing for nightmares… follow me…" He said as he touched her shoulder lightly and got out of bed.

"Do I need my shoes?" she asked, unsure of exactly what this 'nightmare cure' was or where she would find it. She needed to know because her shoes were next to the bed.

"No… not at all, we're just heading to the Kitchen." He laughed as he said it as if it were obvious. She simply followed him and didn't ask anything else until they were in the kitchen.

"Tea?" She asked a bit confused as she watched him put the kettle on. He had lit up a few candles and had them set on the small table at which they ate every night.

"Of course… tea fixes everything."

She couldn't see his face because his back was turned to her, but she had a feeling that he was smiling. "Everything?" She repeated questioningly.

"Well everything except craziness… I mean look at Thackery, he's been drinking the stuff for years and still mad as a rabbit… a march hare at that!"

"And of course you too." Alice teased, "Just as crazy as ever."

"I suppose so." He said with a mad laugh as the water boiled and he fixed them both a cup of tea. He didn't look to see what kind of tea because to him all tea was good. "Sugar?" He asked as he added a large amount to his own cup as well as a fair amount of honey and a splash of milk.

"Yes please!"

"Say when…" He said with a grin.

"But I can't see how much you're putting in…" She said confused, "So I don't know when to say when."

"Alright!" He said hearing the word when twice and taking that as time to stop. He had been known to serve a cup of damp sugar to guests who took too long to say when. He carried both cups to the table and set them down only remembering which was which from the fact that his was no longer clear from the added milk.

"Thank you." She said taking her cup and taking a sip finding it to her fancy.

"I told you tea was good for everything…" He said with a smile as he drank his own.

She ignored his comment and shook her head, "How do you take yours?" She asked just making conversation.

"Depends on the day…" He replied… he did have a different way for everyday, and it seemed that today's mix involved more sugar, honey, and milk than he generally used in a week.

"Today?" She specified.

"More sugar than tea with a bit of milk and honey." He replied sipping his concoction from the cup and amazing him that all that sweetness wasn't making him sick.

"Let me try?" She asked setting down her own cup and reaching her hands out to take his cup if he handed it to her.

He handed it over and smiled, he wondered if she would be able to take such a concentrated sweetness, but it really didn't matter either way. She may not realize it now, but tea truly was the cure for everything because it took your mind off whatever was troubling you.

She took a sip, then another, then another. It was extremely sweet and at this point tasted nothing like tea… however it did remind her of something else. "When I was little, my father used to give me a bit of warm milk with sugar in it before bed… he would sneak the sugar because Mother insisted it would keep me up at night… it probably did, but it was good regardless…" She trailed off and returned the cup to his hand, "That's what it tastes like…"

Tarrant gave a sad smile. It was rare that Alice spoke of her father and he personally knew very little of him, He knew that he had passed away when Alice was young and that they had been very close. Her father had been the one who had allowed her to be creative and unique… he was the one that had allowed the Alice he knew today to come to be. It reminded him of his own parents who had died along with the rest of the Hightopp clan when the Red Queen had originally attacked. It made him sad to be on such a somber topic, but it was nice that she was opening up to him once again.

He couldn't help himself but ask, "Why is a raven like a writing desk Alice?"

She smiled, "No one knows… not even you."

He smiled back, "True, but I do have a few theories… They can both be black, they can both squawk… depending on how squeaky your desk is of course… You can write something on the desk, or you could write something on a raven…" He shrugged, "They're also both parts of an age old unanswerable riddle that I've been asking my whole life… but regardless, they're a like, or maybe they aren't at all and it's just a trick to confuse and work the mind…"

"I suppose we'll never know…" Alice said as she finished her tea and yawned… it was still quite dark out. If they went back to bed, maybe she would be able to get a bit more rest.

"Or maybe we will… You never know what can happen in Wonderland…" He said after finishing his own tea.

"Underland." She corrected, holding out her hand so that they could return to his bed and the company of each other's arms.

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><p>Cute, right? Well the next update will be all about the ball and the morning before it all :) Please review!<p> 


	14. Get Ready

Sorry this took so long, and it gets a bit repeatitive for a while there... Anyway, I tried my best, but this is more just a set up chapter than anything... But the next few chapters will be much more eventful. By the way, see if you can spot the quote from the original Alice in Wonderland novel!

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><p>He awoke to the sensation of something… rather someone breathing down the side of his neck. It wasn't frightening; however, it was quite the contrary. It was a pleasant feeling. "Alice…" He murmured sleepily in a hearty, throaty voice. His eyes were half closed with sleepiness, but through his orange lashes, he could see the morning light trickling in through his bedroom window. It was a pleasant effect that he had never before taken time to experience. Then again it had never before been so pleasant as it was now with Alice there.<p>

Alice heard him speak and felt him shift on the bed. She had fallen asleep with her head on his chest, but she now found herself lying next to him. Her head was turned so that her lips grazed his neck lightly just above the pulse point. His voice washed over her like warm honey, but it was nothing compared to the sensation she experienced when he then encircled her in his strong arms and pulled her closer to him. She obliged eagerly and turned so that her head again rested on his bare chest. She got as close as she could to him, snug against his side and comforted by every breath he took. As wonderful as the last night had been and as wonderful as the morning was going so far, she had a bad feeling about today. "Tarrant…" She replied trying to sound as happy as she was feeling, though she knew deep inside that it wasn't going to last long.

"What's wrong Alice?" He asked as he opened his eyes fully and shifted a bit. He moved so that his hand was touching her back softly while his fingers traced circles slowly on her skin. "You don't seem happy… and you know I want you to be happy…" With that he kissed her neck and waited for her reply.

"Nothing, just a bad feeling…" She replied trying to absorb as much comfort as she could, knowing that eventually she was going to have to get out of bed and get ready for the ball. For now, though, she had time and didn't want to move away from him at all. She could feel him breathing and could hear his heart beating. It was soothing, and as she mused about the night's events, she couldn't help but wish that every day and every night could be spent with him. Next to him… and in his arms.

"I know how you feel. Today is a bit off, I suppose, but maybe it's just because neither of us want to get out of bed right now and get on with it. It may also be because this is your first official Underland celebration, other than un-birthdays and the Frabjous day of course, but those hardly count. Truly today is momentously… large an occasion." He laughed for seemingly no reason, then looked at her with a very serious, but comforting look. "But no matter how momentous and large it is, you'll be just fine Alice… I'll be right there with you, and it will all be fine."

She felt reassured by his words and smiled, "Unless of course you're off doing a futterwacken and I get eaten by something."

He shook his head and a bit of his frizzy orange hair fell on her face. She giggled and blew it off. "Not possible… If indeed I do futterwacken, and I will most likely do so vigorously… I would like you to accompany me in the dance and stay by my side far away from anything that would eat you… Though I don't know why exactly you think something would try to eat you. All the creatures I know with teeth large enough to bite and catch at a woman of your stature are either dead and gone or reformed. Of course there are those I may not know about, but they're all holed up in Tugley wood… most are too afraid of losing their heads to come out when you're around." He laughed again moving his hand up to stroke her hair.

She couldn't help but feel better when he was acting so very himself. Though the feeling that something bad was going to happen didn't fade, she finally felt good enough to get up and reluctantly removed herself from his side and sat up on the bed. Somehow through the night she had changed out of her nightgown and into nothing but her underwear and one of his button up nightshirts that only had one button done up. It was long and covered her well enough, but she wondered when exactly she had changed.

It didn't matter too awful much either way, because she was alone with him and she trusted him above all else. She also was comforted with the fact that she knew that nothing had happened last night. They had snuggled close to each other, hugged, and kissed, but there had been no sex. She loved him, but she was not ready for that yet. Being a twenty-five year old virgin simply meant to her that she could wait a while longer without consequence before delving into the passions of sex. From what she had seen so far of Tarrant's notions on the subject showed her that he respected her choices and her body. That was something she appreciated fully.

"Your hair is in need of a cutting." He remarked blatantly looking at her curly blonde hair. He wasn't meaning to sound rude so Alice did not take it as such, even though it was a very odd comment to make first thing in the morning. Alice knew it was just the way he was and it was simply in his nature to say such things. The locks were now beyond their normal length and were split at the ends terribly. She had been in desperate need of a trim whilst in the Upperland, and the time of neglect in Underland had done little for it.

"I wouldn't suppose you know a hairdresser or a barber?" Alice said with a laugh as she got off the bed and stretched out. Something in her back popped, then immediately felt better as it shifted back to its natural alignment.

"No, unfortunately." He admitted rather solemnly, "I'm afraid the only barber I know is a fish, and unless you can sprout gills, it's very difficult to hold your breath long enough for a cutting."

"Well that's ridiculous." Alice said with a laugh, "Why would a fish be a barber when his only clients would be hairless fish?"

"Because he dreamed to be in bigger and better places…" The Hatter replied as he got out of bed and walked to meet Alice where she now stood. "Pity the poor man cannot breathe air or he would have many a customer… myself included."

"Who cuts your hair now?" Alice asked curiously. For as crazy as his hair was, someone must cut it to keep it at the length at which he always wore it.

"Why, I cut it myself of course… with help from Maliumpkin from time to time." He beamed with pride and smiled at telling her this. He liked the feeling that she was learning something new about him. He wanted her to know everything about him, and he wanted to know everything about her. He loved learning new things about her and hoped that she felt the same about him.

"Then cut mine." She said with only a moment's thought. She trusted him with her life, so why not with her hair? She had a feeling that he would do a good job, and if he didn't… he was excellent at making hats…

He reached out to touch her hair. It was soft to the touch, smooth and silky despite its lack of maintenance beyond everyday washing and brushing. "I've never cut anyone else's hair before…" He said a bit nervously, "But I'll try if that's what you wish." His fingers then wandered from her hair to her shoulders and then to the back of the shirt she was currently wearing. She had put it on after they had returned upstairs, finding that she had spilt a small amount of tea on her night dress. There was something about her wearing his shirt and little else that made him feel a rather… suggestive feeling. He felt possessive over her, though he knew that she was not the type of woman a man could own… and yet, he felt something there, like she belonged wearing his shirt, and something more, that she belonged with him. How badly he wanted to pull her back into his bed, hold her tight, and never let her go… but he couldn't. Today was meant for big things… big things that would happen, unfortunately, outside his bedroom.

"I trust you completely." She said with a smile as she began to walk towards the door of the room. If they were going to do this, they were going to do this now, before she showered, ate breakfast, or got dressed. "Now let's do it before the party."

He blinked as she walked through the door. He hadn't expected her to be so gung-ho about the idea, and while he appreciated her trust, he hoped and prayed that it wasn't misplaced in him. He was sure that there had to be some hairstylist in Underland, after all, someone had to tend to the Queen's hair, but whoever it was, Tarrant did not know them. He mostly lobbed off his own hair with scissors, not one to care about perfection or evenness of his frizzy orange hair. However, he knew that such an approach wasn't going to work with Alice's hair.

As she sat down in one of the Kitchen chairs and waited for him, he wished he had never commented on the state of her hair, after all, he would feel terrible if he messed it up before tonight's festivities. He supposed that even if he did mess up, that she wouldn't be too angry at him, and that she would be wearing her hair up anyway, but just in case, he kept a backup plan in the back of his mind as he took scissors and a comb and began to cut her hair. He cut off as little as possible and tried to keep everything even, all the while thinking about what sort of hat he could make her if he caused something to go wrong. He mused out loud, unbeknownst to himself. "A fedora or a beret? Maybe a tiny top hat… but no fez, as much as I adore them. There's always a bonnet, but she's hardly the type for a bonnet, after all, a bonnet is for a little girl, and I doubt they could even get one on her as a child… but a more adult bonnet would not work either… Adult women who wear bonnets are more proper… corset wearing women, but not my Alice, not my Alice at all. Maybe a slouch beanie, something crocheted or knitted, but not solid fabric that would be too much. Maybe with a flower?"

She heard him speaking and knew that it was not meant for her to really hear or respond to. She understood that it was merely him thinking out loud and talking to himself, which was something she herself often did. However, something he said did get her attention quickly. He had said, 'My Alice', not only once, but twice. She smiled when she heard him say it, though she wasn't a woman to be won or owned, she enjoyed the feeling of being wanted. Hearing him say that he considered her his woman made Alice feel as if nothing else mattered in the world. She said nothing, but instead waited with a smile for him to finish his cutting. Today was just killing time for tonight, when it would all begin.

"Done." Tarrant said after a moment of making sure that everything was straight and even. He had done the best he could with his steady hands cutting little bits of hair away at a time. He thought that he had done pretty well, but he knew that it was up to her to decide whether his attempt at cutting her hair had been well done or a failure.

She didn't even bother to look in a mirror or run her hair through it excessively. Instead she just thanked him, smiled and offered to make him breakfast as if things like this happened every day, and she were just a house wife. She nearly scoffed at her own thought, there was no way she was ever going to be 'just a house wife', but it was still a good thing that she was feeling a sensation of normalcy on a day that was far from normal.

"That sounds brilliant." He replied with a smile, but he wouldn't let her cook alone. After they finished making and eating breakfast together, it was off to different pursuits until the time arose in which they would need to get ready for the party.

Tarrant retired to his workshop to sketch and work on his newest projects. There really was no rush on them because everything that needed to be done in the near future was finished before the party. Now he was just working purely from his own imagination, no orders, no customers, just for himself, his friends and Alice. He began with sketching and did so in the sketchbook that had previously been on Alice's desk. He smiled as he looked at the sketch he had done of Alice. Running his hand down the page, he thought that he had captured her quite well, except for the fact that not even a photograph could capture Alice. She was the way she was, and she was in motion... constantly. To see her in a picture was to see her diminished, to see her in motion was to see her the way she truly was. He beamed thinking about what she would look like dancing.

Alice decided to spend her time before the party in her bedroom reading. Unexpectedly for Alice, Tarrant had many books in his home, and they all seemed to be worn as if they had been read often. She supposed that in her six years away, he could have taken up the pursuit and could have read many a story. As much as she enjoyed reading, she felt bad leaving him to his own devices for six years without her. She realized half way through her first novel, that it was a romance. She had always liked romance novels, though she preferred fairy tales. She thought that maybe reading those books he had been thinking of her, it made sense, because reading about the couple in the book, she was thinking of him.

She sprawled out on the bed and thought about last night. After she had woken up from her nightmare, they had been drinking tea. She remembered that she had spilt some of the tea on her night dress, and that Tarrant had offered her his shirt to wear for the night. She knew that she could have just crossed the hall, but wearing something of his just felt more intimate at the time. She was still wearing it now, and its soft fabric made her smile. She was sure there were still bits of her hair clinging to it from her impromptu haircut, but she honestly didn't care. It was comfortable, and it was what she was going to wear until she was ready to get dressed up for the party.

She thought about the way that she had slept next to him, in his arms, feeling his warmth. She remembered every kiss and every touch that they had shared and felt that their sudden leap into a love that was delayed for far too long. She blushed as she sat and thought about it. She was really beginning to sound like the book she had just been reading. She laughed to herself and looked out the window.

It was starting to get late which meant that it was getting close to party time. Alice unbuttoned the single button holding the shirt on, and slipped it off her shoulders slowly. It was comfortable, and though she loved the gown Tarrant made her, there was nothing more comfortable to Alice than a loose shirt. She was happy to know, however, that the dress she was going to don for the night would not require her to wear a corset or stockings due to its make and length.

She walked topless into the bathroom adjoined to her bedroom. Slipping off her underwear and readying the water for her bath, she tried not to think too much about the nervous knot in her stomach. She still had a bad feeling about today, and while she was unsure why, she had a feeling that she shouldn't have even bothered getting out of bed.

She didn't even pay attention to the type of soap she used, she just used it and concentrated on the fact that she wasn't going to be alone tonight. She was going to be escorted and accompanied by Tarrant. She knew that the party would not be rigid like the events of the Upperland, but at the same time she was nervous and unsure of what to expect. She hoped that it would all go well and that she was just being nervous about nothing.

After she finished showering, she waited around for quite some time in just her towel, and put up her hair as she did so. She put it up in a bun, allowing a few stands of curly hair to fall to the side and frame her face. It wasn't a difficult style to achieve, and it was formal enough, yet not over the top. Putting it up, she realized that the Hatter had done an excellent job cutting it. Other than it being slightly longer than the length at which she normally liked it, it was perfect. He had done a great job, and it wasn't the only thing he had done perfectly.

As she exited the bathroom, she took a long look at the dress he had made her. It was beautiful as ever and now was the time for her to put it on. She pulled it on, careful not to mess up her hair, and was amazed by how well it fit. It was tight in all the right places, but comfortable at the same time. It was a lot of dress to wear because of its large skirt, but as she finished donning it and put on her shoes, she knew she could handle it.

However, there was something missing. In all the excitement of the morning and her thoughts being elsewhere all day, she hadn't thought about it at all. "The necklace!" She hissed to herself as she reached a hand to touch her bare neckline. She tried to think of where she could have lost it. Did it fall off in the woods? During tea? She wasn't sure, but a knock at the door made her stop freaking out.

"Alice?" Tarrant asked from the other side of the door. "Are you decent? Rather, can I come in? I suppose that was the question I should have asked first, but you know I didn't think to say it first…"

She shook her head, "Come in…. and yes, I'm decent." She was glad that he was coming in, because as much as she didn't want to admit she had lost it so quickly, she needed his help to find it.

As he entered the room, he was awe struck, though he had made the gown himself, he couldn't even imagine how lovely Alice would look in it. The dress, on her, surpassed his wildest imagination, and suddenly, he felt as if he were unfit to escort her to the night's event, even though he himself was dressed in his finest. He held the necklace in his hand and held it out to her. He had found it on the nightstand next to his bed, and knew that she would be looking for it whether she told him it was missing or not. "May I?" He asked as he approached her.

She was shocked to see it in his hands, but she supposed that it meant that it had been in the house. "Yes, Please!" She said with a smile turning so that he could again put the necklace on her.

He clasped the necklace, and tilted his head to kiss her neck. She was the picture of loveliness and it was going to be his honor to escort her tonight. "Your carriage awaits milady." He said with a grin as he offered her his arm, which she immediately took. He walked her from their rooms to the front door where outside a carriage did wait for them with a two horse team. The horses were white as snow, and Alice knew immediately that they had to be from the White Queen's private stables.

As Alice entered the carriage, she was again hit by a feeling of unease, it was lulled slightly, however by Tarrant's hand on her lower back, helping her in, just like the gentleman he was. He then climbed in next to her and went on their way to a night they would never forget.

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><p>Thanks for reading! Please review. Again, I appologize for the bad chapter, and I'm sorry its taken so long.<p> 


	15. The Task

Okay, so its been about two weeks since my last update and I think you deserve it :)

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><p>Alice was feeling extremely uneasy and tense as she sat in the carriage next to Tarrant. They were off to a night of celebration and highly anticipated fun, yet she could not join in with the enthusiasm of the event. She wasn't even there yet and she had the worst feeling she could imagine. Try as she may, she could not shake the sensation of foreboding growing deep within her. As the castle of the White Queen came into sight, not even Tarrant's hand in hers could ease her utter unrest.<p>

"What's wrong Alice?" Tarrant asked as he ran his thumb over her knuckles. He had sensed her nervousness since before they had embarked on their carriage ride, but he had sensed that it had reached its peak mere moments ago. He looked at her with downcast, sad eyes, he didn't like it when she was upset, and he liked it even less when she was upset and he was unsure of why. He had his theories about her being upset, but none of them were accurate, though this fact was unbeknownst to him. He thought that maybe she was still nervous about her first Royal occasion, or maybe she didn't want to be seen with him. He even thought about little things that could have her uncomfortable like the stitching of her dress or it being too warm. He could not comprehend or begin to even think that Alice was truly upset about a feeling of foreboding.

Alice looked at Tarrant and saw the sadness in his eyes. The last thing she wanted to do was upset him further by stating something about getting bad feelings about the event. These were concerns she had already voiced, and were overall, probably nothing to worry about. "Nothing.", She said lightly, mustering as much warmth and contentedness as she could and putting them into her words. As she spoke her statement it sounded fake and false, even to her ears. She willed it to be true, but she knew it was a lie. Her only hope was that he didn't also know that she was merely telling tales.

He could tell just from her tone that she was hiding something. Her speech sounded far too uncharacteristically cheery and fluffy in tone compared to her usual speech. Usually when she spoke something like that, it was far more like a statement and was said in a matter of fact way. He knew she was lying to him, and to say that it didn't hurt would be a lie. Didn't she know that she could tell him anything? Still, he wouldn't argue about it or try to get it out of her… everyone has their secrets that they don't even whisper to their closest friends… Alice deserved to have a secret or two… just as he did. "You don't have to tell me… It's fine." He murmured very low so that she could scarcely hear him. "You can tell me anything, but I understand if you don't want to."

She leaned on him a bit more purely for comfort and a feeling of protection. She hadn't meant to hurt him at all, she just didn't want to bother him with her monotony. "I'm just nervous is all… I've got a bad feeling again.", She said softly, this time sounding very sincere though her words lacked muchness.

"Is that all?" He asked as he touched her cheek gently, "I can promise you that nothing's going to hurt you… not while I'm around." With that statement he kissed her cheek softly, and the carriage came to a stop. "Besides," He added, "they don't bite."

With that sentiment in mind, Alice and Tarrant exited the carriage and emerged to see all of their friends gathered around a podium where the White Queen stood along with her subjects. "Our Champion, Ms. Alice Kingsley has arrived.", The Queen announced in her usual tone as soon as Alice stepped forth and out of the carriage. "May this be the most celebrated Flitzwibbet day in history for our savior has returned."

To this Alice expected there to be a great cheer or at the very least a bit of smiling, but there was none and she supposed that parties in Underland must be strange indeed if there was no cheer. She supposed that perhaps during such formality it was custom to keep ones emotions locked away inside oneself, and looked to Tarrant for confirmation, but only saw a look of confusion and curiosity on his face. For a man who was usually not as curious as she, Alice was confused by his utter misunderstanding and inquisitiveness on their current situation.

"Will the champion please step forth." The Queen uttered as she stared straight at Alice. There was nothing but silence when the Queen was not speaking, but as Alice stepped forth, a cry broke the silence. It was the sound of a sob of a child that was creating the noise, and the child in question was dressed in full regalia at the side of the Queen. At this, the Queen's perfect mask of emotionlessness cracked and let a look of pure sadness show; however she did not tend to the child and instead allowed its father to do so as she recomposed herself.

Alice was still quite confused, but she did as she was told, which was a rare occurrence indeed for her, because she had never been very obedient. She was not sure why the child had cried or why everyone was so somber. She was also unsure of why exactly the Queen had been sad. She wondered at where Cheshire was and why Tarrant didn't seem sure of anything either. However, there was a single thing that she did understand and that was that the crying child had been Lily, the Queen's young daughter. The girl had obviously been upset, but about what, Alice was unsure. It seemed as if they were all attending a funeral rather than a coming home and anniversary celebration. Things simply did not feel right, but in a world of Happy Un-Birthdays and talking fish, one never really could tell right from wrong.

"By decree of the White Queen and her court, the champion knight of Underland will be once again tested by a…" Here the Queen cut off abruptly and her voice cracked with what seemed to be strain when she finished her sentence, "task."

"A task?" Alice echoed, forgetting her place due to her being more confused than ever. She thought she was going to a party, not some type of test. She had always hated tests of all sorts, and she was sure that this 'task' would be no exception. Everyone was staring at her, and no one looked even remotely happy. There was something seriously wrong and it was now obvious to both her and Tarrant.

At this point Alice noticed that Cheshire, Maliumpkin, and McTwisp were all looking at her as if they wanted to say something, but couldn't… as if the proverbial cat had their tongues. Thackery also seemed to have something so say, but he didn't utter a word either. He just twitched and rubbed a spoon against a small rag, acting even more insane than usual. There were also the Tweedle boys who had spent the entire time since she arrived, far apart and seemingly jittery. Basically, nothing was right.

"The task…" The Queen continued as she gestured widely to a large hedge behind her, "Is the labyrinth of hedge in which our champion will once again prove her worth to us."

Behind the queen were yards and yards of hedge with a single opening, the likes of which Alice had never seen in her life. She vaguely remembered from her childhood lessons, a mention of a labyrinth with a monster within which required the sacrifice of a young man and woman every year. The thought that she were heading into such a maze frightened her, but she couldn't seem to remember how the story went in all. She knew that in the end, the monster was defeated, as they were in all childhood tales, but she could not recall how or why. She began to shake, her muchness was nowhere in sight and she was a little less than curious about whatever lay within the rows of hedge. Had she the ability to fly, she would find that they were actually miles and miles away from the castle, with the hedge taking up the entirety of the front lawn and walk.

Tarrant now stood at her side, clutching her hand as if life depended on it, which at this point, may have been a very plausible reason. "Tarrant… this isn't normal… is it?" Alice asked her companion in a voice that was hardly a squeak. She was terrified, everything was dark and grey. The clouds were dark with the small amount of remaining sunlight shining through them looking pale and sickly. No one was smiling, nor were they wearing their normal clothes, but grey, black, and white formal wear that reminded her of a funeral. Being that as it was, she supposed that the party being in her honor and it having the air of a funeral was a terrible sign indeed. What was happening to her Wonderland?

"No…" Tarrant replied, despite the situation, seeming very calm and possibly the sanest he had ever been around her, "No, this isn't right Alice. Something is seriously wrong… You may have been right."

Decidedly ignoring their whispering, the Queen's face went grim, "Step forth and meet your fate Champion of Underland."

With the words spoken, the crowd parted to make a perfect path to the hedge labyrinth's opening. Alice did notice that for a moment, Mali stepped forward and drew her pin sword from its scabbard before McTwisp muttered something to her quickly as if it were extremely important, and she returned with a grudging look to the line. It was comforting towards Alice that at the very least, one person was still acting mildly themselves other than herself and Tarrant.

"No!" Tarrant Shouted as Alice went to move towards the opening apparently to meet her fate. He released his strong grasp on her hand and quickly put himself in front of her, blocking her patch, while at the same time seemingly trying to protect her from everyone else there, as if someone or something would attack her at any moment.

"Move Tarrant, this needs to happen." McTwisp stage whispered to Tarrant from his place in the line, apparently trying to be the voice of reason for him and the rest of the crowd. However, it wasn't working very well.

"I won't let them take her in there." He hissed to no one in particular, but Alice supposed it was aimed towards McTwisp and the White Queen. He was angry, furious even, and it was obvious just from the way he was acting. Tarrant who was usually so carefree in life, and who only worried over why a raven was like a writing desk, was acting like a full-fledged and very angry body guard. Alice, only then remembered what he had said in the carriage, 'I can promise you that nothing's going to hurt you… not while I'm around.' He was keeping his promise to her; he wasn't going to let them take her into that maze where God only knew what was lurking. He was protecting her, and it didn't look like her was going to back down.

A look of intense sadness flashed before the White Queen's eyes, and tears seemed to form within them, but she blinked them away, and keeping true to her vows, did not perpetrate any force or violence herself. Instead with her voice cracking as she fought to control it, she said a single word. "Guards!"

To This word, Tarrant turned around quickly before they could come out and pulled Alice close to him, tight to his chest in an embrace. He spoke quickly into her ear, "I don't know what's happening. Stay safe, use your head, and know that I love you… If it comes down to where you can't keep going, nap quickly and come to see me. I'll see what I can find out." At the conclusion of these rushed warnings and statements, he kissed her passionately, seemingly to reinforce his early point.

Tears formed in Alice's eyes, she still had no idea what was going on, but she was sure it wasn't going to be good. She tried to steal a moment of happiness in his kiss, but it felt so bittersweet. She wanted him to go with her, but at the same time, she didn't want him to purely for the reason that she wanted him to stay safe. She knew that in the custody of the White Queen, he would never be harmed.

He released her from the hug as two white knights got close enough to them that they were now under their immediate threat. He pulled off his jacket and tossed it to her, mouthing the word, "Pockets." Then he allowed the knights to drag him away. He fought against them the whole time, trying to shake them off, but it was to no avail. As he was nearly out of sight he shouted her name loudly as if she were the only person on his mind.

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><p>Hope this was worth the wait, please review :)<p> 


	16. The Hedge and The Dream

Hey everyone, glad to see you're still sticking around to see how this whole thing ends. We're getting into the last few chapters here and I'm really excited to be finishing this up. I've decided that when I post the last chapter (Most likely chapter 19 or 20), I will start a new fanfiction which I am calling "Mad As Rabbits". A little sneak peek as to what it will be is that it will be an AU story set in a London asylum during the late 1800's (approximately between 1870-1890). Alice, disliking the boundaries of common Victorian society refuses to marry and instead leaves home to take up one of the few professions open to women in her time, nursing. Finding the only job she could receive was as a nurse at the famous London Asylum, nicknamed Bedlam (Bethlem Royal Hospital). There Alice meets a young mousy girl barely the age of sixteen named Mali. She also meets two men named Tarrant and Thackery, one who through his trade had gone mad, and one who had believed from a young age that he was a rabbit. Together, with the help of a wise old man named Absolem, and a constantly bothersome cat named Cheshire, they begin to break down the boundaries of gender, mental health, and relationships that were never meant to be. I hope that once Loving Madness is concluded, some of you would be interested in reading it... for now, here is the new chapter!

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><p>Alice felt a pain shoot straight through her heart once Tarrant was out of sight. Her mad man was gone and though her other friends surrounded her; it felt like they too, were all gone. They were all acting unnaturally and were looking grey. In fact Alice and her stunningly beautiful dress were the only sources of color in what seemed to be a plain of monochromatic darkness. Marmoreal was usually a palace of bright white with soft pale colors, but today all was grey and black with dark green hedge being the only real variation. It was frightening and wrong feeling, like a crime against nature and the very fabric of space and time to have all be so dark.<p>

Alice took a deep breath and pulled on her mad friend's coat. It was still warm from his skin and its soft fabric was very comforting to her. It was like having a bit of him with her as she boldly went forth to face the unknown. She remembered him mouthing the word "pockets" to her before her was dragged away, but she thought better than to check them now. She supposed it would be best to check them in the maze, away from prying eyes and out of sight of anyone who may make her remove the jacket. She was beginning to feel like a prisoner or criminal of some sort with the way everyone's eyes were on her. She felt the scrutiny of hundreds of eyes as she stepped forth to the entrance of the hedge maze.

As she stood directly before it, she gathered all her courage and mentally blocked out everything that was around her. She breathed deeply and before she entered she muttered to herself, "Ten impossible things Alice… count them… Don't count on what may happen, just count on the unmanageable." As she took her first step inside the labyrinth, the hole in the hedge vanished. Once she had moved inside, the foliage seemed to spring forth and grow closed within a moment so quickly that should one have blinked, they would have missed it.

"One," She said in a rather frustrated tone, "Hedge can grow in a matter of seconds." She knew that nothing was impossible anymore, but things that were seemingly and rationally impossible had to do. Just starting her father's old practice comforted her, even though it was not really before breakfast.

"Two…" She muttered as she plunged her hands into the pockets of Tarrant's jacket, " Tarrant was ready for everything." As impossible as that sounded, it was at least a little bit true. She fumbled her fingers around in his pockets and pulled out a fist full of little trinkets that he never left the house without. There was a card of needles, a few bits of ribbon, a tiny pair of scissors, and three almost full spools of thread. It wasn't exactly useful to her in the form of what they were meant for, but Alice was sure she could find some way to use them.

"Three, I can use thread to keep track of my path." She let a little of the thread off the spindle and tied the end to a tuft of hedge. She was in a maze now, and she knew the best thing she could do for herself was to keep track of where she had been and where she was going so as to not become confused.

She held on to the top and bottom of the thread roll so that it could unravel as she walked, and as she took her first few steps, she felt apprehensive, but was happy to get moving towards whatever lay in front of her. It was so dark that she could scarcely see the path. The sun had finally gone down and the only light was from the moon and the stars, but it was a dim and dirty light that filtered through the clouds. She walked straight forward using her thread trail and sense of direction to guide her.

The straightaway of the maze seemed to last forever, but eventually Alice came to a break in the path. "East to Queast, South to Snud…" She muttered to herself, not really knowing which way was East or which way was South. She knew left and right, and the latter was what called to her. She walked down the right path and hoped and prayed that it was on the right side. "Four, I can guess correctly the first time."

She walked and didn't run into any kind of block, barricade, or barrier, so it seemed that number four was coming true. Taking a few more turns correctly and incorrectly, put Alice far into the maze, and left her tired from tugging the heavy dress along with her. She wished for a corset and petticoat or a slip so that she could remove the gown, but she didn't wear them, and she was stuck with what she had. Alice frowned as she looked at the dress, it was coated thoroughly with dust and dirt from the bare ground of the maze. "Five… my dress will make it through all this." She had a feeling that so far, five was going to be the only impossible thing she had said that would be truly impossible.

Eventually and after enough cases of her tripping over her own dress, she had enough of it. She stopped her work and slumped down next to a bit of the hedge row and set the spool of thread down next to her. "Six, if I fall asleep, I can go to see Tarrant.", She said to herself. Even though she had done it before, it really did feel impossible this time. He was goodness only knows where, and she was in the middle of a blob of greenery, somehow she seriously doubted that she would find him, but she was tired and it couldn't hurt to try.

She closed her eyes as she sleepily slurred seven, "Seven, he's already waiting for me." She then felt the familiar ethereal, out of body experience that let her know she was dream walking. All ladylikeness aside, Alice stood and hiked up her dress's skirt, She reached out to try to find the string, but found something much more useful and far more surprising.

"Oh!" Alice gasped as her hand touched the hedge and completely phased through. "Eight, I can walk through hedge!" That she did as she ran through rows and rows of hedge like a mad woman screaming, "Tarrant!" She was so excited that she would be able to see him again. She continued to run along the edges of the maze until she found the front gate of Marmoreal. She shouted his name again and ran at the wall, which under normal circumstances would have been a very unintelligent plan, but luckily she phased through just as she had gone through the hedge.

She ran into the main hall and dove towards the floor with earnest knowing that below it was the castle's small dungeon where she supposed Tarrant would be. As it ended up, she was correct and he was sitting in the corner of his cell waiting for her.

"Alice!" He shouted back at her. He was so happy to see her safe and sound, and as she walked through the bars of his cell, he didn't question a single thing. His arms were outstretched and open for her, but this time his hug could last, and his kiss wouldn't be bittersweet.

"Tarrant, the maze, it's huge… I don't know what they want me to do… Make it to the end or the center, I'm not really sure."

Tarrant shook his head, "I'm afraid I don't know anything more than you know... did you check the pockets?" He inquired upon this as if he didn't think she had.

"Yes, it was the first thing I did." She replied, her fingers fumbling with her necklace absentmindedly as they stood there talking.

"Then why didn't you cut the dress?" He asked curiously. "That's why I had those things in my pocket, in case you needed the dress altered for dancing. I suppose that it was good luck that I brought them now that I think about it, had I not done so you wouldn't be able to shorten it now… of course you haven't shortened it yet of course… that's why I asked… and, why not?"

It was good to hear him ramble a little; it was just a tiny splash of normalcy that made Alice feel more secure than she was in the insane situation she was finding herself in. "How could I cut it when you worked so hard on it?" She honestly hadn't wanted to cut it for that reason, but she had to admit that it was a lot of fabric to be dragging around into the unknown. On the bright side, she wasn't wearing anything with a heel, so with the amount of walking she had to do, she wouldn't have to worry about breaking a heel or getting blisters.

"With scissors of course, my sweet Alice. What else?" He replied with an impish grin.

Alice frowned, she knew he was just trying to be funny, but suddenly, nothing felt very funny. Outside of these walls and in the maze, God only knew what awaited her. As much as she had put on a strong face and tried to steal a moment or two of happiness, Alice knew that she was still very afraid. She was scared of facing the unknown once again alone. She wished that he could just phase through the bars like she had and return to the hedge with her, but she knew that it wouldn't work that way. She wished that it would, but she knew better. Though she still wasn't sure on everything about dream walking, she knew that it didn't allow your physical body to travel with your astral self.

Seeing her frown, he knew that she wasn't truly in high spirits, and how could she be? This whole day was feeling far more like a nightmare than the dreamlike ball in the honor of Alice which they had planned on attending tonight. To think his plans for tonight were to dance, make merry, and have Alice on his arm; he never would have guessed that he would actually be locked in a jail cell as the woman he loved was off facing something unknown totally alone. "I'm sorry Alice… I was just trying to lighten the mood, but I suppose that it didn't really work too well… What I meant was that you should cut the gown if it helps you and you want to; I can make you a new dress, a million new dresses, dresses in all colors, shapes, sizes, the same dress, whatever you'd like Alice… don't feel bad about it…" He reached out a hand and touched her cheek, "The dress should be the last thing on your mind."

She felt his hand on her cheek, it was a warm soft touch and it helped her focus and calm herself. There were so many things to be afraid of right now, and so many things to dread, but just having a moment to spend with Tarrant made her feel as if maybe, just maybe, this would all end up okay. She sincerely hoped so, because if they both got out of this unscathed, being a house wife didn't seem like such a terrible thing.

He pulled her close to him and held her tight in a hug while running his hands up and down her back. He loved her and wanted to hold her close all day and all night every day for the rest of his life, but for now he just needed to do what he could for her and let her go… even though he didn't want to. He kissed her gently on the lips and moved his hands so that one was on her lower back, and the other was touching one of the loose curls that she had left intentionally out of her bun.

Alice nearly sighed into the kiss, she knew that it was a goodbye kiss without him even saying a word, and as much as she hated to say goodbye, she knew it needed to happen. "Tarrant…" She said as their lips parted.

"Yes Alice?" He replied still holding her close.

"I love you." She said truthfully purely because she wanted to say it and because she didn't want to say goodbye. Goodbye was too harsh, and she didn't want to say some other type of Farewell when she could just tell him something pleasant instead.

"I love you too Alice." He replied seemingly knowing that goodbye was the world to be avoided.

With that Tarrant released her and they shared a loving look before she walked through the bars and back to the maze. As she walked out and tried to grasp ahold of her fading feeling of calmness, she heard Tarrant call after her, "Be safe."

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><p>Thanks so much for reading... I've noticed a dip in reviews lately, and I'd love to hear from more of you, especially because this all may be ending soon. Also please tell me what you'd think of reading Mad As Rabbits... i want tot know if anyone would be interested in it.<p> 


	17. The Courtyard

I'm sorry that it took me forever to update, but I'm still without internet. I will be without it until Decemeber, but if I don't update between now and then, I promise speedy updates until the end once I have it. This chapter was initially done a week ago, but my little brother got mad at me and deleted it before I could post it... moral of the story... my brother is a bother. I tried to make this chapter longer and more eventful than the rest to make up for it, so please enjoy and I'd love love LOVE to see some reviews. :D Thanks as always for reading.

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><p>As Alice walked back to the hedge and back into her body, there were tears in her eyes. She wasn't one to cry when upset, but her current situation had her more than upset, it had her feeling utterly alone and depressed. She knew that she would need all of her muchness to overcome whatever lay on the path ahead of her, but it was difficult to gather it when she was feeling so betrayed and empty. She felt like the moment they took Tarrant away, something was stolen and taken from her heart, like someone had just sucked all the love out of it and left a broken shell behind. The few moments that she had just spent with him had made her heart feel full once more, but as soon as she left his presence it was like emotional whiplash and a speedy return of the empty pangs of pain to her heart.<p>

Even with all of this, Alice knew that she must go on. Her friends and the Queen had betrayed her, she knew that from the moment she had arrived to a foreboding presence in the air, but from Mali's outbreak, Alice was sure that all of this was for a reason. There was danger ahead, she could feel it in her very bones, and the Queen's use of the word champion made Alice feel as though whatever lay ahead would need the full attention of her and her muchness. There was something ahead and that something would be nightmarish.

"Nine, I'm in love with a mad man and I miss him terribly." She said as she rejoined her body and continued with her last exercise. She picked up the thread once again and began to walk alone the path once more.

"Ten… I can make it out of here and see him again." She kept walking and walking making right turns and left turns, corrects turns and incorrect turns, until she ran out of thread on her original spindle and had to tie the next one to the end of the original.

The maze was huge, that Alice had already concluded, but as hours passed on and on, she began to wonder if it actually ever ended. Hitting another dread end, Alice plopped down on the ground, feeling exhausted both physically and mentally. She wished she could actually take a rest, but she had told herself that she would make her way out the maze tonight, no exceptions. She refused to allow herself to be trapped within walls of greenery for days and have herself starve or dehydrate.

She knew that she couldn't stop now, and knew too that the more she walked, the closer she would be to the end, and even closer to Tarrant. So, she remained seated for a moment and pulled out the scissors from the pocket of his jacket. "Forgive my hack job…" Alice muttered as she attempted to cut the layers of dress from the knee down off.

Once she completed her job, she set herself to the enormous task ahead of her. There was so much she needed to do, so much ground to cover, and so much unknown to face. Alice gathered her muchness and once more set off in hopes that soon the maze would end.

She made many correct turns and many incorrect turns, but eventually she found herself a few yards of hedge away from what her mind calculated to be the center of the maze. She breathed a sigh of relief feeling as if her tenth impossibility was at least half way to becoming a reality. Her legs were tired, and her spirit was running on low, but with the realization that she was possibly half way to the end of the maze, Alice moved with more gusto than she previously dreamed of possessing. She all but ran to the next opening of hedge, but a strange feeling overcame her, and she stopped short. Something didn't feel quite right, and Alice sensed danger ahead. Pausing, she looked around and tried to make sense of the odd sensation that was overcoming her.

A quick look at the hedge directly in front of her startled Alice, it seemed to be moving, but not in the way it had previously when it grew shut. It looked as though a strong gust of wind was hitting the other side of the hedge, because it was moving in a motion that was comparable to wind hitting a tree. She was almost overjoyed at seeing this, believing for just a second that she had made it to the exit of the maze, but before she could cheer, she knew that it was not truly the nature of the motion. No it seemed that there was indeed air making the greenery move, but it seemed as if it were more like the motion of breathing. She thought that maybe the hedge was a living thing, preparing to swallow her up, of course it was believable in the world of Underland where nothing seemed to be impossible, but she doubted this. Why, if the hedge were truly alive, would it wait so long to end her life? Why wouldn't it simply do so in the very beginning when it had filled its entrance with greenery?

Alice began to feel very annoyed and impatient with her predicament and decided that for better or for worse she was going to get answers to the questions that were still plaguing her mind. Why had everyone seemed so upset? Why was everything so dismal? Why had she been forced into this maze, and what exactly lay in the path ahead of her that was creating the illusion of breathing? She gathered all of her muchness and creeped up slowly to the next opening in the maze. With stealth that she had never known she had, Alice peered around the corner of the hedge maze to witness something that took her breath completely away.

Scales, talons, a pointed tail and teeth were before her, though they did not belong to some new beast that she had never before seen, no they were belonging to her old foe. The thing before her was a beast she had previously believed to be dead and gone… before her stood the Jabberwocky in its entire dragon like evil cruelness. The beast was just recognizable, for it was turned away from her, looking at something that Alice could not perceive at the other side of the maze.

While she stood there, frozen in terror at what stood before her, Alice saw the tail of the beast twitch as it began to turn around and face her direction. Just before the best could rear its ugly face in her direction, Alice quickly lunged out of the way and behind the hedge silently. She now sat with her back to the hedge, virtually scared as hell. It was all she could do to control her breathing as she covered her mouth to keep it from involuntarily screaming without her mind's consent. The Jabberwocky stood just ahead of her out of her reach only by a wall of hedge that now seemed amazingly thin. Her mind was reeling with fear and hysteria the likes of which she hadn't even known the first time she faced the beast.

Could this possibly be the same Jabberwock that she had faced so many years ago? It was impossible! She had slayed the beast and ultimately had drank its blood as a means of returning home… how could it stand before her once more as though slicing its head from its shoulders had just been a simple flesh wound that only needed a bandage to mend? She could have screamed aloud with frustration, things did not just simply return to life once they had been killed… if they did then Alice would had lived a much happier life surrounded by her late father and grandparents … if they truly did, then Tarrant's family would still be alive as would many other Underlanders… No, things did not just simply return back to life on their own accord, not in the Upperland, and not even in Alice's wildest dreams of wonderland. Once something was dead, it would remain dead for eternity.

The only possible explanation that Alice's mind could conclude was that there was more than one Jabberwocky or that this was the offspring of the one she had originally killed. However these explanations were also found to be void after she thought for a moment or so. She had remembered hearing once before that there was only one and only had ever been one Jabberwocky which destroyed her theories. It only left her with the explanation that it was the same that she had killed before. With this thought in her mind, as impossible as it seemed, Alice took pride in the thought that she had at least killed it once before leaving with her the knowledge that she could do it again.

Feeling a little brave, she peeked her head around the corner of the hedge again to look at the surroundings that lay ahead of her. The first time she had looked she had been unable to look at anything but the beast ahead of her. This time, however, she found that the Jabberwocky was looking away once more, giving her time to check out her surroundings. What she saw reminded her of a courtyard or a garden. It was a large square with hedge walls around it. In the very center of the square was a large circular stone fountain with concentric rings piled one on top of each other with water spurting from the very top. The water followed gravity and ran down from each saucer shaped ring until it again reached the bottom and was brought to the top again. The ground of the courtyard was covered by flag stones with the exception of four rectangular raised stone beds that were placed equidistantly to all sides of the fountain, parallel to the hedges that surrounded them. Alice could also see that the beds had large stone benches on either side. Growing inside the beds were what looked like black roses. She was unsure if they were that way naturally or if they were simply dead red roses that had gained the black tint through layers of dead petals accumulating on top of each other before falling off. Either way, there was a strange beauty about the area that was only interrupted by the harsh and jagged form of the Jabberwocky sitting in its midst.

Alice pulled back behind her hedge parapet, not wanting to be seen by her enemy. She went into full on soldier mode, she was the Queen's champion, a slayer of beasts. Whether it was her destiny to win or lose her next fight, she was ready to once again muster all her muchness and march into battle. She wasn't afraid now, she wasn't afraid in the least. Her mind had completely turned over and had almost given her mental whiplash in its quick change. She was ready to be a fighter now, and trying to gain the upper hand before the fight had even begun, Alice began to think about how she would execute her battle plans with her army of one.

She was just automatically assuming that the Jabberwocky was a hostile target, and probably rightfully so. Even without her prior experience against it, her mind automatically associated claws and teeth with a fight. For a few moments she allowed herself to ponder why exactly no one had warned her of the threat, but she supposed that something or someone had forbade them to. After all she remembered Maliumpkin's previous attempt at what had probably been a warning. She had stepped out of line and had seemed to want to tell Alice something, but had been brought back into line when the old white rabbit, McTwisp, had said something to her. Alice also supposed that what Chess had said to her days ago had been a warning… He had said that he knew something would happen but that he was forbidden to tell her of it. He had seemed to want to tell her, then had recited something to her before he disappeared…. How had it gone?

"`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe. Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun The frumious Bandersnatch!'" She remember that after he had finished the classic Underland poem, he had run off telling her that he was sorry. He must have been trying to warn her of the Jabberwocky's return without giving her too much information. Alice could hardly expect him to get in trouble himself just to save her skin. After all just saying that much was extremely courageous for such a usually cowardly kitty cat.

She also remembered her odd dream from the night that she had spent sleeping next to Tarrant. _"Beware the Jabberwock, dear Alice! The jaws that bite and the claws that catch! Yet no longer fear the Jubjub bird nor the much calmed Bandersnatch… Secrets have been hidden and secrets have been told, fear not the dead but instead the Queen of old. When dawn comes alight new rulers will come, no longer champion, but still the one who won."_ She remembered that the voice had seemed familiar, but not at the same time, that it sounded like someone she knew, but that the voice was somehow too loud and not quite… melodic enough. It was an odd thing to remember, and she was unsure on how any of this would help her now, but she remembered something else from the apparently prophetic dream. She remembered that the Jabberwocky had spoken to her in the dream, but its voice had been odd… two voices had emerged from the same throat. She remembered being afraid as she awoke, but nothing else.

At the very least, she now knew that some people had been on her side and had tried to warn her. If she died in the coming battle, at least she knew that someone had cared enough to try to save her life. She wished that she could have understood the vague hints when they were given to her, so that she could have brought a weapon with her, but she knew that no mere mortal weapon could help her now… she needed the Vorpal blade. She was pretty sure that the blade was locked away somewhere in a display case in Marmoreal, so whether she had been warned or not she wouldn't have been able to retrieve it… especially due to all the party preparations that had barred her from even leaving Tarrant's home until today.

Knowing that there was no way that she could slay the beast without the sword, Alice was struck with a moment of despair for the life she was sure she would momentarily lose. But after just a second of feeling bad for herself, Alice's warrior spirit rose again as did her muchness. If she were to die today, it would be fate's doing, and she was a strong woman who did not believe in fate. Quickly deciding a course of action in her mind, Alice stood tall and muttered to herself, "I make the path."

She was no longer the young girl who cried when she lost her way. She was a strong and independent woman with a fierce spirit that had been stewing inside her for twenty one years. She was not going to die here… she was going to fight like hell and ensure that that would be true. Taking a deep breath, she walked with strong purpose in her tattered dress and borrowed jacket forward and around the corner to meet the enemy ahead that no doubt was ready to spill her blood.

"Little Alice… come to play have you?" asked the Jabberwock as soon as it saw its targeted prey. Its voice was the same two toned noise that Alice had heard in her dreams, but only now did Alice understand fully the feminine tone that it had taken on. The other voice was that of the Red Queen, speaking in sync with the voice of the Jabberwock which through black magic, her soul was now intertwined with. She had been waiting a very long time to exact her revenge, and though Alice didn't know it yet, she had been planning this day since her fall and Alice's return to the Upperland. She had expected Alice to return and had been surprised that it had taken her so long to do so. After all, the Queen had seen Alice's pitiful love for the land that she called Wonderland, and in particular the girl's love for her sister's hatter. It was sad really, that in the mind of the Queen, Alice would never see him again.

"I do not play!" Alice said with a controlled fierceness as though she could kill the half beast half woman with just a few flaying remarks from her tongue. She was completely in control of herself, and she was not about to let the beast score a single point against her in any way. "To play a game would allow a chance… there is no chance here. You will fall today, I will win, and when you fall, you will fall forever." Her words were delivered with such fierceness that she no longer seemed like a mouse within reach of a cat's paw, but instead a venerable and volatile enemy that was not to be underestimated for a moment.

The Queen-beast almost shuttered at Alice's attack, but held her ground. There was only the small Alice sitting before her, not anything that she should have to worry about. After all, she herself was the size of a house while Alice was scarcely the size of one of the stone benches that sat near the fountain. For dramatic effect, she even swung her tail at one of the flower bed-benches and watched as it shattered into thousands of tiny pieces. She would defeat her sister's champion and crush her into the dust just as she had the bench. After all, how hard would it really be to sideswipe the small girl with her claw and be done with it all? If it weren't for the fact that she found it so unpalatable, she would just simply catch the girl in her teeth and swallow her whole.

Ignoring the Queen's attempt at intimidation, Alice stuck her hands into the pockets of her borrowed jacket and acted as if she were bored. In truth she was just looking for something to use as a weapon… the only thing she could find was the book of needles. It would have to work for the time being, and using her thumb, she slid one out while it was still in her pocket. She was going to make a stand with what she could, and she was going to win, simply because she knew that she would never forgive herself if she died and could never see Tarrant again. She took a deep breath and tried to come up with a plan of attack while analyzing the area around her. The only thing that she had on her side would be if she attacked first using the element of surprise… after that she was sure she would be fighting a defensive battle.

The Queen just laughed, she wanted to say 'you and what army?', but she was too proud to waste her time or voice on such a pointless enemy. Without any warning she just moved her face close to Alice's and flicked her tongue menacingly. She decided that she did want to say something, and as she said them, she spoke with arrogance that only she could pull off. "Such mice should not speak in the parliament of cats." She said with a laugh as she reached out a claw and lifted Alice up by the back of her jacket by pinching two claws together on the fabric. "They may find that the next time they squeak, they will lose their tails."

Alice just grinned devilishly and spat in the beast's face. She would not be insulted in such a way, and with all her bravery fired up in her heart she withdrew a small pin from her pocket and jabbed it directly into the beast's fiery eye.

The Queen howled in pain and dropped Alice to the ground as she tried to snatch the pin out of her eye. As she hit the ground, Alice hurt her shoulder, but ignored the pain as she quickly rolled away and to safety behind the large stone fountain. The fight had begun, and ready or not, Alice had to fight. She had the first strike, but that was where her advantages ended. The Queen was larger and was armed with the Jabberwocky's arsenal of claws, teeth, and sharply pointed tail. Alice truly was a mouse in her shadow, with only meager pins and bits of thread to fight her fight, but what Alice had on her side was cunning, and she knew from watching Maliumpkin that being a mouse wasn't so bad. After all, the bigger they are… the harder they fall. And the queen would fall today that Alice swore!

After a few moments of blindly groping, the Queen managed to pull the seemingly microscopic pin from her eye and came back with a vengeance immediately deducing Alice's hiding spot and crushing it to dust with a whip of the tail.

Luckily for Alice, she was quick on her feet and was able to dodge the attack as it came. She was hit with water and bits of debris from the fountain but found herself none the worse for wear. There were only three benches for which she could use as cover, and though there were several exits into the maze around her, Alice was not about to run. Quite to the contrary, in fact, Alice picked up one of the fallen chunks of stone and heaved it with all of her strength at the Jabberwocky's head. The Queen-beast whacked it away with its tail just in time before it was able to hit her in the head. But this defense just gave Alice more time to grab more rubble and chuck it at her with violent force and deadly accuracy. Bits hit the beast here and there, but to Alice's disappointment, they did little other than anger the much larger enemy. Even if she could keep her at bay with the stones forever, which she couldn't, there would be no real damage unless she was able to attack with the Vorpal blade.

Her mind cried out for help, but she wouldn't let her internal struggle show. She continued her volley of stones as the monster retaliated violently with claws, teeth, and tail. There was nothing else that Alice could do but fight on even though she was tiring with every moment. As she ran out of stonework bits in her general area, she was forced to run and hide behind one of the benches until the Queen broke that to bits too. Alice knew that she couldn't keep this up forever, but she also refused to give up, and as the rubble flew, she picked up another chunk and chucked it, but with much less power compared to before. She was getting tired; her arms and legs could not sustain this kind of constant abuse. A quick look at the sky told her that dawn was quickly approaching, and she tried not to despair with the thought that she may not live long enough to see it. However, while she was looking into the sky, something caught her eye.

There was something glinting in the sky and out the corner of her eye she could see it coming her way. As she tucked and rolled out of the way to avoid another one of the beast's attacks, she couldn't help but steal another glance at the object that was getting closer and closer by the moment. What was coming her way? She couldn't help but hope that it was an angel or some other kind of miracle come to save her.

Her thoughts and full attention was snatched back to the fight and violence after a few moments when another barrage of claws threatened to cut her throat and end her life. Though dodging and crafty small attacks, Alice was able to sustain another round of the duel, but she knew she would be able to keep it up for much longer, especially when one of her dodges was a bit too slow and she was cut deep on her forehead. She ran out of the way of another attack just as the cut began to bleed.

She rolled behind another one of the beds and tried to staunch the bleeding by holding her hand on it with so much pressure it hurt. She knew that she only had moments to ready herself for her next defense and thinking quickly, grudgingly tore off another bit of her dress and tied it around her head to stop the flow. By the time she was done, the blood from the wound had already begun to run into her eyes and as she tried to wipe it away, she heard the Queen's demonically gleeful voice shout, "Come out come out where ever you are little mouse!"

Alice almost screamed as she rolled out of the way just in time to avoid the beast's tail as it destroyed the bed. There was only one hiding place remaining and Alice sensed the end coming… if she truly was going to die today, she was going to meet her death with dignity and grace… all wounds on her front… she would not die running away.

The Queen laughed loudly, other than the pin being driven into her eye, she had suffered no real pain. Alice throwing stones at her had been nothing more painful than one being flicked by a finger, she was not in pain, and if anything she was enjoying running the girl ragged. It would just be all the more fun when she couldn't run away anymore and had to lay wheezing as she watched her own death happen. Perhaps in the beginning the Queen would have been merciful and would have given her prey a swift death, but by now she had been annoyed far too much for that kind of compassion to be shown. No, now she was going to toy with and torture Alice and enjoy the screams that escaped her tiny little smart mouth. A quick death would not even be offered to the little beast that had killed her Jabber-baby-wocky in the first place. She would enjoy killing her slowly.

Alice was not going to abandon hope as she ran and dodged as best as she could. After falling behind her last defensive wall, Alice looked to the sky hoping and praying for a miracle that could save her. After all, a miracle would be impossible, and when impossible was the odds, things seemed to always work out in Alice's favor… and somehow, these odds did not fail her again. The metallic glint caught her eye again, and thing time, it was directly above her. It was just floating up in the sky, and even in her woozy state of blood loss and exhaustion, Alice knew what it was.

"The Vorpal Blade!" The Queen-Beast hissed as Alice stood to receive the blade from the sky. It was impossible that she could have it now. After all, she herself had hidden it in the rubble of one of her ex-courtier's houses where no one would even imagine looking. She was furious, how could this be happening to her? After such careful planning she had thought that nothing could bring her down… but then a thought struck her mind… there was only one who was everywhere and nowhere at the same time and would have the knowledge of its location.

"Chesshire?" Alice asked, she was confused, but there was a fondness in her voice as she said his name. He always showed up when he was needed most and always seemed to be on her side. She was almost moved to tears by the sight of him now, hovering just above her, holding out the Vorpal blade to her with his paws.

"Of course…" He drawled as if their conversation was no more urgent than a friendly chat. "You didn't think I would leave you without a weapon did you? I mean of course I'm fashionably late to the party, but I would have been right on time if the she-devil over there hadn't… complicated things so much by hiding it so far away…. Of course I can't help you fight, but now that you have this… well you can't lose. After all, you are the champion…" He said the last bit fondly and smiled a characteristic smile as he vanished into thin air.

Alice smiled in response and thanked him as she turned back to face her foe with sword well in grasp. She wouldn't have had the strength to lift the blade if it hadn't been for the fact that the blade knew what it wanted. All she had to do was hold on, and the blade would pretty much work itself. It was brilliant like that, taking out its foe all while protecting its wielder. With a smile, Alice approached the Queen and said, very clearly, "Who's the mouse now?"

With that they began to duel with a new ferocity. It was just minutes in to the renewed battle, and anyone could see that Alice had the upper hand. She swung the sword faster than the queen could dodge or even launch her own counter attack. Alice looked on the outside, just like the warrior spirit that roared inside her heart. As Alice swung the final blow with all her strength, the queen-beast knew it was over, and in an act of despair swung its tail with a deadly force.

As the head of the monster went flying and the Red Queen was no more, Alice was hit full force in the front with the Queen's final desperate and cowardly act… a tail slap. All the wind was knocked out of her at once as she went flying and the blade clattered to the ground beside her… if this was the end… she had had a good run… at least everyone was safe now. Everything around her was going dark, even though with her last bit of sight she could see that the sun was rising big and bright in the sky. When everything went black, her hearing lasted a few moments longer, and she heard someone getting closer and closer to her. They sounded like they were running, but her hearing too faded until the last thing she heard before slipping completely into the black was someone say her name desperately.


	18. Tell All and Hold Me

There's only going to be a chapter or two after this, and I thank you all for reading. After the conclusion of Loving Madness, I'm going to write a couple one shots to follow up... I'm thinking a possible wedding? After I'm done with those few one shots, I'll begin writing Mad as Rabbits :) Thanks so much to everyone who reads this fic, it really does mean the world to me. Please keep up all the great reviews and wonderful PMs, they make me smile!

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><p>There was only darkness, darkness everywhere with nothing to grasp onto… but how could she grasp onto anything? She had no arms, no legs, no body at all… this was not a dream… she was not astral projecting. Before her and behind her and on every side there was a sea of endless blackness. It was above her and below her absolute and total nothingness… and who was she? She didn't even know… there was a small seed of self planted somewhere in the darkness, but she couldn't see it.<p>

Eventually she found it and grabbed ahold of it… it began to grow, as she allowed herself to grow with it. What were they growing into? Something in the darkness muttered a strange word… "Alice…" it said, and then it echoed again and again, "Alice… Alice… Alice…" What is an Alice? Or rather what was an Alice? She was there but she wasn't… just holding on to the growing thing that was Alice until finally the memory came back with a shock and the empty blackness that was her mind began to fill with both wonderful and terrible things.

She was Alice.

Upon realizing this she felt her arms and legs again, and her mind filled up with everything that she was. Finally her lungs drew breath and she began to feel pain… shooting pain and something upon her chest… it was light… and soft… it covered her whole body. It was like snow, but it wasn't cold… it was comforting. She felt something else too… something touched her face and put something in her mouth. It was liquid and soon the pain subsided. She was still relearning and remembering things in her mind… but almost everything was back together.

Her name was Alice Kingsley. She was one-and-twenty years old, and she lived in England. Her father died when she was young and she missed him terribly. She had an older sister and a mother whom both wanted her to get married. When she was eighteen she turned down a proposal offer from a lord, and ever since had worked as an apprentice and partial owner of the ex-suitor's father's company which her father had originally owned. She liked working, and she had been to China and India. She also hated corsets and stocking, but liked dresses well enough. From time to time she liked to wear men's trousers and shirts because they were more comfortable. Her hair was blonde and wavy, and her eyes were blue.

She didn't live in London anymore… she lived outside the city in the countryside… she had a cabin… but she left… There was a butterfly and she up and left. She had left everything as it was and her mother must be terribly worried… she had been gone a long time, but where did she go?

She went to meet friends… funny friends who lived in the forest… down a rabbt hole but only two were rabbits… funny rabbits. One wore a waistcoat and one liked spoons… they could both talk, one better than the other. There was a mouse too… she had a funny name… it reminded her of pumpkins… she was a nice friend, but she was tough… a warrior… She was a warrior for a Queen. The Queen was nice… white… red… red was bad… scary… but why? Oh and the kitty cat… he saved her life… but the Hatter… Oh the Hatter.

She wasn't supposed to, because it wasn't proper, but she loved the hatter… she had kissed him too, and they hadn't ever announced their courtship! Oh just wait until mother heard, she'd be so very flustered! But there was something wrong with the Hatter… he was crazy and imprisoned, but he wasn't imprisoned for being crazy… no, he was a good man… he had protected her… from the Queen… the red one… the bad one… the monster…

It all came back to her then… the Jabberwocky, the fear, EVERYTHING came back… "Tarrant!" She screamed. Was she dead? It was still so dark! "Tarrant!" She screamed again sobbing, crying like a child for him as her eyes flew open and were met again with darkness.

"Hush…" Said a soft voice from the darkness… "Hush Alice… I'm right here." As she heard this noise, she felt a hand touch her face. It was a strong and roughly calloused hand that was stained and scarred from years and years of working its trade day and night.

"Tarrant?" Alice asked now more quietly, being much calmed by the sound of just his voice. She couldn't see anything, but just knowing that he was there made her feel safe, as if everything would be okay.

"Yes Alice, It's me…" He said gently as his hands went to either side of her face. "Here…" He said, "let me take the bandaging off…" With that Alice felt him begin to unwind bandage from around her head, eventually removing it all so that Alice could finally see what was around her.

It actually was dark out, but once the bandages were removed she could see enough to tell that she was in a large bed in a bedroom with long windows that let in the moon and starlight. She presumed that the bandages had been over her eyed because of the forehead wound that she had sustained, and because she still had her vision, she guessed that it hadn't been too terrible. She looked to her side and saw Tarrant standing there rolling up the bandaging that had previously been covering her eyes.

Just seeing him stand there next to the bed, completely fine and safe, made Alice feel like jumping up to hug him. "You're okay…" She said groggily with a smile as she tried to sit up on the bed to get a better look at him. She shifted away the blanket that had been covering her mere moments earlier, but struggled to sit up. She felt no pain, but her limbs had no strength, and she could now feel that there was also bandaging elsewhere on her body.

As soon as he saw her try to sit up, Tarrant put his hand on her chest and eased her back down into bed. Knowing that she was trying to sit up to see him better, he sat on the edge of the bed near her so that she wouldn't have to move. "Don't move too much Alice…" He said with a sad look in his eyes, "You're hurt, and the medicine that she gave you is the only reason you can't feel the pain… There were so many bruises… You were dead… I thought you were dead…"

Alice saw how sad he looked and moved her hand out from under the blankets. She slowly but surely moved her hand to rest on his lap in a gesture that she hoped would be comforting to him. She was still very confused, "She?" She asked curiously, "Who gave me medicine? Why did you think I was dead?" She struggled to remember, but the last thing she could see was herself with the Vorpal sword beheading the Jabberwocky. She didn't know what had happened after that… so many questions had to be answered. What had happened after she slayed the beast? Why had she passed out? And why was she wearing so many bandages when she only remembered being hit in the head? It made no sense to her, and she needed answers.

"The Queen, of course…" Tarrant said with a mock smile that quickly transformed into a frown… as if he simply could not sustain a smile for more than a moment or two. "She gave you a draught to take away the pain… nasty bit of brew it was, but it's obviously helped if you're not in pain anymore… after all you were so broken when I found you… crumpled on the ground and bleeding. I didn't know what to do Alice… I was so afraid." He continued as tears began to form in his eyes and he looked as if he were on the brink of losing himself in his own memories. "Alice!" He shouted, "Alice, please get up! Get up!" He was fully sobbing now.

"Alice, what did she do to you?" He continued as tears streamed and he reached out to her. It was obvious to Alice that he wasn't in his right mind at the moment and was, more than likely lost in his memories of the day in the courtyard when she had fought the Jabberwocky. He must have been the one running to her, and must have been the footsteps she heard before blacking out.

"I picked you up and ran, but I thought you were dead…" He tucked his head into her chest as he cried, "Alice please… don't leave me. Don't leave me alone… I can't stand life without you."

"Tarrant!" Alice interjected, trying to snap him out of his trance. " Please, Tarrant… I'm fine! I'm okay… I'm okay." She hushed as she reached a hand up to brush his cheek. She was beginning to feel the pain of her injures a bit, but she didn't care.

He still wasn't snapping out of it, so she yelled as desperately and loudly as she could, "Hatter!" She knew that he preferred to be called by his name, but if it could catch his attention, she would say it… desperate times called for desperate measures.

He suddenly jerked up and looked at Alice as if he were looking at her for the first time. "Alice?" He questioned as if he hadn't just seen her moments before. "Oh Alice, I had the most awful dream. There was a Jabberwock and I thought you were dead and I carried you all the way back to Marmoreal crying and screaming while running, because I wanted you to be okay."

"It wasn't a dream I'm afraid." Said a voice that was neither Tarrant's nor Alice's… however it was familiar, but it sounded melodic, in a way it hadn't been at what was supposed to be a party… It was the white Queen, and Alice couldn't help but be confused… She felt Tarrant sit up quickly as he moved his head off her chest. Apparently he didn't want to be so intimate when they weren't alone.

"What's happened?" Alice asked, trying to sit up, whilst feeling irrationally angry at the Queen. Part of her knew that none of this was her fault, but at the same time she was still angry with her if only for the somber display in front of the maze. It was still breaking Alice's heart to think of the way that all of friends had looked before she entered the labyrinth. Everything had been so dark and gray… no one was themselves, and everything that embodied her Wonderland had seemed wrong.

The Queen sighed as she crossed the room, looking and acting regal as always. Usually her face was a mask of relaxed happiness, but as she walked closer and closer in the dimly starlit room, it could be seen that under that mask, there was a twinge of sadness. She wasn't her usual self, and anyone that knew her could see that there was something wrong. Even her walk was off from its usual wispy and airy gait. "I'm unsure of where to begin." She began with a sad look in her eyes. She had never meant for things to turn out the way they did. She had only wanted to protect her people.

"The beginning would be best." Alice responded feeling agitated, but trying and succeeding to keep her voice level and calm.

"Of course…" She responded seeming to be very unsure of what to say next.

Alice felt Tarrant's hand go to hers, and she relaxed a bit. She trusted Tarrant's judgment and actions, and he seemed to be in comfort mode rather than high alert, so she knew that nothing bad was going to happen that hadn't already. She wished that this could just wait until morning, but at the same time she needed to know what happened. There were gaping holes in her memory, and she knew that before she acted next, she needed the truth… She hoped that the truth was what she was going to receive really was the truth, because she wasn't ready for any more secrecy.

"While you were gone the people of Underland began to flourish. Without the iron grasp of the red queen, our people have been freed to do and be who they want. There was a great time of happiness the likes of which some were beginning to call the Golden age… until months before you returned… I sensed it happen." She looked down sadly as if it hurt her even to remember. "I was walking the astral plains looking for my sister so that I may check on her… the astral plains of course being only open to the minds of royalty and those with the high levels of intelligence enough to reach it in other ways such as Cheshire or Absolem, I didn't expect any danger other than from my sister, but she had grown stronger than I could ever imagine… Her companion had committed suicide, and with his death, the last shred of humanity in her died also. She, unbeknownst to me, had decided that finally completely alone, she would exact her revenge upon us…"

To this Tarrant shook his head, it seemed to Alice that he had already heard this story. The thought that he may have known about this all along put her on high alert and made her edgy, but knowing that he wouldn't have possibly kept something like this from her made her relax a bit. It still seemed to her that he had heard this all before, but she supposed that the Queen had filled him in also, quite possibly while she was out cold.

"With the darkest magic imaginable… something I cannot fathom nor comprehend in the realms of my vows… she took her own life and used it to rekindle a beast of old… she twined her soul with one so ancient and rotten that it corrupted her and made her very soul a black hole for energy… it sucked up every bit of magic in Underland until she was the only one who could use the arcane arts… which she did… against our people." She paused there but quickly continued as if there was too much to say and too little time to allow for a long pause. "With the soul and physiognomy of the Jabberwock intertwined with her own self, she attacked me viciously in the astral plain leaving me only with a shred of my previous powers and a promise… if she was not given the champion knight within the year, she would slaughter every man woman and child of my charge…" The usually statically emotional queen did not cry, but did let a tear flow down her cheek that let Alice know there was humanity inside her.

"I had no choice but to await your return and send you into the maze… she threatened murder if someone so much as spoke about it, so besides myself and Cheshire, no one knew about it until the day of the party for their own safety."

It now made sense to Alice why the Hatter had known nothing, and why no one other than Cheshire had tried to warn her before the day of the party during which Mali had bravely stepped out of line… For this, Alice had a new respect for the mighty mouse sword maiden which she so thoroughly enjoyed calling "friend".

"I knew you would make it out and take the throne of course… after all, it was your right by blood after slaying the Jabberwock the first time… we just needed to await my sisters passing for the full power transfer to come to you, and of course your consort." She spoke as if it were all obvious as she gestured to Tarrant whom was sitting closely at her side still… not too close to be inappropriate, but close enough that Alice could still feel the heat of his body through the covers.

"Powers?" Alice asked finally finding her voice once again, "Like the astral projection? And what do you mean by my taking the throne… its yours." She avoided the consort comment, not totally due to its unimportance at the moment, but also because she was a bit embarrassed to speak of it. After all, she and Tarrant had never announced their courtship formally, but they had made-out together in public. She had to admit it was under some extremely odd circumstance when it happened, but never the less it was an unapologetic breech of propriety that would normally be shunned in her home country of England.

"But of course!" The White Queen replied looking flabbergasted by the mere fact that Alice wasn't aware of the succession taking place. "There must always be two ruling houses in Underland, and because you killed the old Queen in fair combat, you and your consort now overtake his kingdom… its standard procedure, and as soon as you're healthy, we will have your royal coordination, so that you may become the queen legally that power has given you naturally."

Alice could hardly believe what she had just heard, and had Underland not been such a land of madness, she would not have believed it at all. "I don't want to be the Red Queen!" she shouted feeling angry and confused as well as a few other things that she couldn't quite describe.

"Now no one said you had to be…" The Queen said mysteriously as she stood up and strode towards the door, "Make your own path Alice… make your own court."

And with that said, she was out the door leaving Alice and Tarrant again alone. Alice's mind was full of thoughts, but not so much that she ignored the pain that was slowly creeping back into her crippled body. It felt as if someone had broken every single bone in her body, and given Tarrant's description of her injuries… perhaps they had. She tried to bite the bullet, but as Tarrant repositioned himself to reach out and touch her, just the slight movement sent Alice over the edge. Tears formed in her eyes and she tried not to scream out with pain.

Upon seeing her pain, Tarrant quickly grabbed a crystal goblet and a small blue bottle from a nearby table. Within the bottle there was some type of liquid which he poured a draught of into the goblet all the while saying to himself, "How selfish of me to neglect giving her more… I just wanted her to stay awake a bit longer."

Returning to sit on the bed with the cup in hand, Tarrant reached out to stroke a bit of Alice's beautiful blond hair. "Drink…" He whispered to her softly as he brought the cup up to her lips with more tender gentleness than any nurse Alice had ever known. He knew that the drink was medicine devised by the Queen to take her pain away and drift her off into a deep sleep, but he wished that she would just stay awake with him… after all he hadn't slept a wink since she had been hurt, and while he was usually a night owl, his constant vigil over her was beginning to take its toll. "It will take the pain away…" He said softer still as he tipped it up for her to drink from.

She did as she was told for many reasons, but the top two were that she really needed to take the edge off the pain she felt, and the other being that he had asked her and she would do almost anything that he told her to. She was still the same staunchly free and independent woman she always was, but at moments like this, she was glad to have Tarrant there to protect her and make at least some of the decisions of their situation.

"Yes, that's it…" He said soothingly, "Drink it all Alice… it'll make you feel better…"

Once she had drained every single drop from the cup, he stood up to return the cup, and Alice almost immediately felt the draught take effect. It was just a single minute before all her pain was completely gone, replaced by only a soreness and an intense tiredness the likes of which she had never before experienced. She felt Tarrant return and sit of the bed and she raised her heavy limbs up to pull him in closer to her. "Tarrant." She muttered longingly as her lashing began to shutter closed, "Tarrant hold me... sleep with me and don't let me go…" She yawned then, and the last thing she felt before she fell asleep was the feeling of his strong arms encircling her in a tight embrace that wouldn't cause her pain thanks to the medication. The last though she had was that her medicine had tasted like a fruit somewhere between a blueberry and a watermelon.


	19. Propriety, Properness, Preps, and Power

I'm sorry that its been so long since I ast updated. I've been busy with school, clubs, and a new boyfriend... his name if Adam and I adore him :) He's been taking up a lot of my time. Lol. Seriously I don't have much of an excuse, but the last couple chapters will be up soon, and I'm going to try my best to finish this up and keep a steady update stream from now on. Especially with any new stories I post (Mad as Rabbits is in progress right now). As usual thanks for reading, and enjoy!

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><p>"Alice… are you sure you're alright?" Tarrant asked gently as he helped her finish lacing the back of the dress that she would be wearing tonight. It was, of course created by him… another one of his handmade masterpieces that fit like a glove. Of course Alice could have enlisted the help of Mali, a ladies maid, or the white queen herself in order to dress, but it was Tarrant's handiwork that she would be wearing, so she had asked for his help.<p>

It wasn't exactly appropriate or proper to have him help her dress… after all they weren't married, and it had only been a day since they had officially announced their courting, so such an unsuitable act would have been her ruination and Tarrant's libertinism were they were in England. However, it was intimate and her damned propriety was of little concern in Underland. After all no one cared too awfully much there, and she was about to become Queen, and even Queen's in English society were allowed to break rules of properness as they saw fit. And here having her gown laced by the nimble fingers of the man she loved, Alice found it more than fit to break a few rules.

"I'm fine." She said with a soft smile as his fingers grazed the bare skin of her back… and bare it was. He had designed a rather… suggestive gown for her coronation, another example of breached decorum that one could get away with as a soon to be Queen. Tarrant had designed perhaps a hundred different gowns for her coronation, but this was the one gown that she had consented for him to make for her. She had loved them all, but this one was perfect. It was beautiful and though under normal circumstances she would never wear something so revealing, she believed that the occasion called for something a little different… a little risqué… a little… royally racy…

He continued the last of the lacing, not that there was much to lace… the back to Alice's gown was bare from the shoulders until a few inches above the small of her back. The lacing started there and went about halfway to the top of her bottom leaving very little of her back covered… he hadn't had a problem designing the gown, but putting it on her made him feel sick to him stomach… so many people were about to see Alice's body fairly uncovered… something about the thought made him feel jealous. After all he was in love with her… so in love that he wanted to do something important… but not now… no, he needed the right moment to do that.

As Tarrant completed his work, Alice turned to look at herself in the full length mirror of the bedroom in the White palace which had come to be hers during her recovery from injury. Her recovery had been extremely fast and thorough thanks to the healing power and knowledge of the White Queen. Alice had only been healing for a week, and in that short time broken bones had been mended, contusions healed, minor scrapes and bruises repaired, and all cuts had been covered within days with soft, fresh, pinkish white skin. She not only felt healed, but she felt better than she ever had before, something that she had thanked the White Queen profusely for in both real life and their frequent new Dream walking sessions together. The Queen truly had outdone herself to the point at which Alice was forced to forgive her completely for her hand in the previous circumstances that had left her mortally wounded… of course she had only done what she needed to in order to protect her people from the evils of the former Red Queen, and she was more than making up for it now.

Not only had the Queen nursed her back to health, buts he had not disputed Alice's right to become a Queen… in fact, she seemed to embrace it. She had spent the week of Alice's recovery in Alice's chamber teaching her the ins and outs of Underland politics, lore, geography, and secrets. She had taught Alice how to control her dream walking, and had even brought Alice on a dream walking excursion through the palace gardens with her, Lilly, the freshly crowned White King, and Tarrant. During the walk she had explained to Alice and Tarrant that the Oraculum had predicted that everything would happen the way it had. She also let it slip that it had made another premonition that had yet to happen… the reason why Tarrant was able to join them on their walk…

Alice had felt that she had a good idea of what the Queen had been getting at, but didn't question it and instead asked about why she had been able to dream walk all along. The Queen had then explained that the powers of Underland, which controlled everything that made Underland magnificent including the Oraculum, had seen Alice as the new Queen since the moment that Erasabeth Crims had "died" by binding her soul with the Jabberwocky. Those unseen powers had called her Queen from the moment she returned. To them she was Queen before any bloodshed, to those invisible omniscient powers; Alice was Queen with or without ceremony.

However, there still would be a ceremony for the sake of tradition and such… which left Alice where she stood, looking in the mirror as she and Tarrant prepared for her coronation. Though she was far from the conceited type of woman, Alice could not look away from the reflection of herself that she saw in the mirror.

Her mouth was frozen into the "o" shape of shock… she looked beautiful, mature, and for lack of a better term, sexy as hell. She looked like a Queen in her own right in such a revealing dress… despite her immodesty, she felt powerful in the gown. It was ebony black silk embellished with sewn in white gems and crystals that shown like the night stars… an appropriate comparison considering that before all this had happened, Alice had wished upon the stars to return to her Wonderland… The wonderland that she was about to be made co-ruler of. The neckline of the gown was slightly more modest than the back and was embroidered with lines of sliver thread. From the sides of the neckline of the gown there were two black ribbons, like the ones in the lacing of the dress's corset like back, which tied around the back of the neck as extra support for the gown. The gown, by some miracle of Tarrant's design had many layers, but was not too heavy to be held up just by the two ribbons, and the small amount of lacing on her lower back.

The bodice of the gown was tight to her despite the fact that it did not have much of a back, and stretched from the top of her chest to the bottom of her waist. From there the gown stretched out into the skirt which was made of a mix of the same silk and a somewhat see-through soft fabric of the same color. It hung loose around her, and was extremely light and airy. The skirt was made in such a manner that as she walked, it would flow about and behind her like some type of large black bird stretching its wings… a raven perhaps… The skirt was also slit up to her thigh on one side, adding to the sex appeal and powerful femininity of the gown. The final, perfect touch to add power to the gown was that it had an extremely long and luxurious train behind it that screamed royalty. It was perfect from head to toe, and as Alice had already noticed, it fit her like a glove.

She was about to say something about its loveliness, but had her thoughts interrupted by the sudden actions of a mad man… her mad man.

"Alice!" He shouted in a mad glee, "You're lovely!" He jumped elatedly over her long skirt and turned to face her. "Not that you're not always lovely, because of course you are… but now in that gown you're something else… something better… something that I like… something I like a lot… it's like your muchness, but I know there's a word for it… it's not a word I use much, because I don't think it's right to say… it's dreadfully common, but I believe it won't be right now because its true… it's just that you are so…"

"What is it Tarrant?" Alice asked interrupting him while she giggled intensely. She loved hearing him go on and on like that, but she knew he was getting to a point, and she was curious to hear it before she had to leave her chamber. After all, her hair was finished, her makeup done, and her dress was on… she was thoroughly prettied, primped, and perfumed from head to toe, so now it was just a matter of time before a maid was sent to tell her that she could descend into the great hall and begin the coronation.

"Sexy." He choked out seemingly immediately worried after it escaped his lips.

He was right about it being a bit of a common word, but Alice did not mind. After all, she found Tarrant to be a little "stimulating" herself. He was very attractive in her eyes, and though she would never do anything too improper before marriage, she understood exactly what he meant. He was actually wearing a new suit for the occasion… of course he was still wearing his hat, but with it he was wearing a hand tailored jacket of the same color with a white and black striped dress shirt underneath with black pants on the bottom… he looked less mad in some ways, but no matter what he wore, she loved him the same, and she knew that it was not clothing that made the man, and no matter how much normalcy he put into his dressing, she knew he was mad, and it was impossible for him to hide it with his insane hair. She smiled, "Do you really think so?" She asked in a hushed voice, she liked the feeling that she felt down her spine when he had said the word, so part of her hoped and prayed that he would say yes.

"Yes, though a rather vulgar term, I do find you quite… well I find you…" He didn't finish sheepishly turning towards her and putting his hand on her back.

"Sexy?" She finished with a soft smile and blush. She liked having his warm hands on the bare skin of her back.

"Quite." He said, then suddenly walked towards the vanity near Alice's bed leading her to question what he was up to.

"What is it Tarrant?" She asked, as she took a step forward allowing her leg to step out of the front slit of her dress gracefully as the train slid along behind her.

"One final thing…" He said gently as he approached her with the necklace he had given her in his hand. He fastened it around her neck in a few quick motions and allowed it to fall to its medium length which landed it right between the top of her breasts. The necklace helped to fill the emptiness of her neckline, and it made him smile to see her wearing it. "Perfect." He murmured as with the same spontaneity, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her with the full force of his mad love.

She smiled into his kiss and returned it. He always had so much passion when he kissed her, and it made her feel like the most important woman in the world… not to mention the muchiest. As their lips parted she put hers up to his ear and whispered into it, "I'm the luckiest girl in all of Wonderland."

Just as she finished speaking there was a knock on the door and the voice of a random maid telling Alice that it was time for her to make her appearance.

Tarrant then offered her his arm, and whispered lightly in her ear, "I do so love it when you call it that." And with those words fresh in her mind, the doors to her chamber swung open, and the soon to be queen and her consort stepped forth towards the future.


	20. A Queen and Her Castle

So this is the last chapter! Thanks for hanging in here with me. I really appreciate you all reviewing and reading. It's been great and really meant the world to me. I'm starting work on Mad As Rabbits ASAP, and I'll hav more info at the end of the chapter.

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><p>The great hall of the white Queen's castle had never before looked so big to Alice. Usually the space was grand indeed and five times lovelier than any other room Alice had ever been in, but today the room exceeded even that expectation. It seemed larger than usual though it was crowded with the inhabitants of Underland. However there was enough space for everyone, and the huddled masses that filled the room actually added to the effect of grandeur in the room. The chandeliers were fully lit and the room was adorned with black and white glass spheres, baubles, and Chinese lanterns hung from the ceiling. There were also black and white ribbons decorating the walls in a scalloped wave which surrounded the perimeter of the room.<p>

The first thing that struck Alice, however, was the pungent smell of flowers which were placed in vases around the room. The flowers, like the rest of the décor, were black and white. But the black flowers were not black because of any dye or death, no, they grew that way naturally in Underland. In fact a stroll through the garden of the white queen had introduced her to a certain variety of flower called an Arcadium which looked like a black rose and smelled like licorice. It had a somewhat iridescent quality to its petals, and Alice had never seen such beauty and purity in the darkness… that single flower, the one that filled the vases around the room as well as white calla lilies, was the entire basis for her court.

After the Jabberwocky incident she had hated the dark, darkness of any kind because of the grey doomy darkness of Underland on that day. But looking at that flower, just as she had looked up to the dark night sky sprinkled with stars made her realize something. It was not the darkness she hated. It was instead the grey areas in between light and shadow that she despised so. With that realization she knew that she needed to become the new sister Queen of Underland. If the white Queen and all of Underland were to survive, they could never enter that hazy grey area again. No, everything in this world, as mad as it was, needed to be balanced. Black balances white, dark balances light.

As she approached the raised dais in the center of the hall arm in arm with Tarrant, she felt powerful. All former apprehension melted away, and even when Tarrant dropped her hand halfway into the hall as ceremony dictated, she knew she had the power to cover the second half of the walkway alone. She was flying solo, like a royal raven through a flock of doves. The train of her gown swirled and whirled behind her with the genius of Tarrant's design as she walked forward. She was sure she looked like a force to be reckoned with, but after a quick scan of the crowd, she was glad to see that no one looked fearful. With the exception of a few former red courtiers who looked mildly fearful and more than ready to schmooze their way to her good side, all the citizens of Underland in attendance seemed genuinely excited, proud, and happy. She was glad that she had the support of those that she would soon rule, just as she was also glad that she had some level of intimidation towards the people that she knew would not be loyal to her.

As she reached the dais, she felt confident in herself and confident in her ability to survive the coronation, and to survive ruling Underland. She was more than ready to be a sister Queen and to rule whomever pledged their allegiance to her… though she wasn't entirely sure who, if anyone would. The red court, as a result of the red queen's cruelty, had something of a negative stigma surrounding it. Even though her court would not be the red court, and certainly would be nothing like it, she supposed that the affiliation would still act as a deterrent to some. She had a feeling that some of the ex-red courtiers would follow her, however that was no comfort. They were a group of liars, backstabbers, and thieves, the exact opposite of who she wanted to surround herself with as Queen. She knew that the Hatter would remain loyal to her, as they were as good as married already, but she knew that the majority of Underland was loyal to the white Queen, and Alice couldn't blame them. The white Queen was a wonderful woman, a compassionate leader, though sometimes a bit too weak and forgiving for her own good, and an extraordinary friend to have. Alice wouldn't blame anyone who did not join on her side after having been on the white Queen's side herself.

There before Alice standing on the dais holding in her hand a circlet set with black gems was the woman in question. Mirana of Marmoreal, White Queen of Underland, was standing proud before her, ready to crown her as the new sister Queen of Underland. They would exchange the true crown every ten years, but until then, Alice would have a smaller circlet crown to signify her rank. Alice truly didn't mind either way… she could never see herself wearing a crown of any kind. She really didn't feel like wearing the circlet either, but she would, at least until the end of the coronation.

"Alice Kingsley." Mirana announced in her authoritative voice, surprisingly loudly for as soft as she usually was. "Will you swear to serve Underland and its people as a fair and righteous Queen until the end of your days?"

Without a moment's thought Alice replied, " I swear."

"Will you be firm but kind, strong but caring, and fierce yet reserved?"

"I will."

Mirana smiled at Alice lightly for a moment before gesturing forward towards the crowd. "Then speak to your people!"

Alice turned on the dais and saw the vivid waves of color which surrounded her. The beings of Underland were all dressed in stunningly bright colors. Reds, Oranges, Yellows, Greens, Blues, Purples, and Pinks all cheerfully lively colors intermixed with a sprinkling of white gowns worn by lords and ladies of the white court. Tarrant dressed in black stood out against them all. After she had reached the dais, he had made his way to a seat that placed him very close to the White King and Lily. His eyes were twinkling as he looked up at her, and after catching Alice looking at him, he gave her a brilliant smile. That smile caused her to grin broadly also. She felt powerful as she spoke to the people in the crowd.

"Citizens of Underland!" She cried out joyfully, "Today I stand before you as one you have known, a friend to some, an enemy to others, a champion to your Queen and a lover of this land. Today I am here to announce with all the muchness I can muster, that I wish to be your Queen. I have sworn to oaths and I now swear to you all that I am here to stay. I plan to make my life here, and I am opening my court to those of you whom wish to join it. My court… the court of black, will not be what you may expect from the name. It will be a place of happiness, of fairness, and of love. There will be nothing dark about who we are together, but instead we will be the light in the darkness. Call me not Queen, but instead Alice, as you have always known me. Whether or not you choose to follow me, I hold no ill will to those whom are kind to those around them. I encourage you all to be happy, kind, caring, and above all curious. Thank you for coming today to see me crowned, I swear I will serve you well." And with the conclusion of her speech, Alice kneeled down before them all and bowed her head regally.

As the White Queen placed the tiara-crown upon Alice's head, she spoke, "Who will follow this woman? Who will be one with the Black court?" Her voice was not mocking or ominous, but instead sounded kind and inviting, as if she wished people to leave her to join Alice. The Queen had always been kind, but maybe she also believed in Alice as a leader. The thought caused Alice to feel warm inside. The Queen had been a little unhinged for a long time… she had come to realize this with the fact that she was constantly trying to beat back the darkness in her own soul… maybe she believed that Alice was going to balance out this Darkness once she was crowned. For both of their sakes, Alice hoped so.

Alice stood once she felt the Queen withdraw from placing the crown upon her head. She stood with a slow deliberate motion so as to look as regal as physically possible. Though she was surprised by what she saw when she was fully standing. At least half of the crowd before her was kneeling, a sign of respect. Did this mean they all wished to join her court? She noticed quite a few of those bowing. Tarrant of course, as well as Maliumpkin, Thackery, Nivens McTwisp, Cheshire, Bayard, Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum, The Dodo, Half of the White Queen's Mouse Guard, a mixture of white and former red courtiers, and many more that she didn't know personally. She couldn't help but bow herself then gesture for them all to stand. These people and creatures of Underland all wished to follow her. She had never been so proud in her whole life.

"Are you sure you wish to follow this woman?" The White Queen asked in a voice that would not encourage nor discourage them from doing so.

"Yes your majesty." Was the resounding chorus of answers from the crowd. It reminded Alice as her time as a girl, curtsying and replying with a very drawn out version of the same phrase.

Mirana smiled, "Then all hail Queen Alice!"

Everyone in the room stood before her and in one resounding, echoing, strong cry they shouted, "All hail Queen Alice!"

Alice was so beyond proud, she almost felt like crying. Instead she stood tall with all her muchness and began to walk through the crowd, down the aisle of the room and out the door in a march befitting a Queen. She knew Tarrant was close behind, but did not turn to look at him. She had to keep up her royal façade until the moment she exited the doors and climbed into the awaiting carriage. Behind her and Tarrant streamed out a constant line of those who had pledged loyalty to the black court, they would soon move to whichever era Alice decided to hold court in. She didn't want to make people move away from their homes, and would force no one to, however she knew that many would.

Once she exited the doors and was helped into the awaiting carriage by Tarrant, and as soon as the doors shut on them, Alice threw herself into his arms.

"I knew you could do it Alice, you were perfect, beautiful, regal! It was the most wonderful muchy thing I have ever seen!" He shouted this gleefully as he held her tight in his arms and kissed her cheek wildly. "I believed in you right from the very start!"

Alice smiled brightly, he was making her extremely happy. He was her mad hatter, her closest friend, a member of her court, and everything she had ever wanted. She reached up for his and kissed him full on the mouth. "I love you Tarrant!" She said with infectious glee.

"I love you too Alice. Marry me!" He shouted with glee as he handed her a small box.

"What?" Alice said as he handed her the small box. What had he said? Marriage? That was a bit out of nowhere, but what else could she expect from the mad hatter. She opened the box and looked at its contents… it was a ring… a diamond ring. Gold band, set with a single diamond, nothing big, but not small either. It was perfect it was lovely it was…

"It was my mother's… Alice, marry me, please!" His eyes were shimmering with hope and love. He really wanted her to marry him. He wanted for them to be together to have the life they both had always wanted. Even if she was the queen now, it wouldn't change anything about what he wanted for their future.

"Yes." She said with a smile. She wasn't going to freak out. She had expected this to happen…. Not at this moment of course, but she knew at one point or another they were going to marry. She couldn't have thought of a better moment for him to propose to her, after all they had been through, it was more than she could have ever asked for. She had always been on her own, just Alice alone, but this level of commitment didn't scare her. Tarrant was the only man for her, she had known that since the moment that she met him. She felt no apprehension or fear, the instant that he asked her that question, her heart was filled solely with happiness and joy.

Tarrant's smile was so wide and bright that it almost glowed. He had been dreaming of this day since the moment Alice left him for the Upperland. Though he had never expected for everything to happen in the way it did, he couldn't be happier than he was in this moment. "Well then my lovely Alice, now that this is resolved, I suppose we should get along to our castle."

Alice giggled as Tarrant pulled her in close for a kiss, "The windmill is gorgeous Tarrant, but it's not a castle. It's more of a cottage, and that's just one of the reasons why I love it." She thought about the cottage home that they shared and compared it to the castle of the former red queen which she had been offered. She was more than happy that she had turned down the residence of the former bloody big head. After all, she loved the windmill; it was warm, welcoming, and all theirs… something that the castle of the former red queen could never be in a million years. There was no way to purge the evil still being emitted from that place, and Alice could never call it hers.

"So no one told you…" Tarrant said with a bit of mystery behind his words. He kissed Alice once more before reaching over to the curtains covering the window on his side of the carriage. Alice wasn't sure as to what he was doing, but her calculations had them entering Tugley wood at this moment. "Look out and tell me what you see."

Alice did as she was told and leaned over him to look out the carriage window. Even with all the madness of Underland, Alice couldn't have imagined what she saw before her.

"The magic of Underland never ceases to amaze." Tarrant told her as he caressed her cheek with one of his mercury stained hands.

The trees of Tugley wood were in motion. Their black trunks and limbs twisting and turning to create something new, something alive, something lovely, and definitely something curious. Alice could not have dreamed up a better castle for those who would follow her. As the carriage stopped so did the trees and Alice saw what Tarrant had meant by their "castle". Before her, completely made up of twisted trees, were solid walls of a fortress. Though the Tugley wood usually felt ominous to Alice, it now felt warm and inviting… it felt like home, and as Tarrant helped her out of the carriage, a tree twisted down and rested at her feet.

Tarrant smiled and gestured for Alice to step on it, taking her hand in his as encouragement. "Your home and kingdom await milady."

Smiling at Tarrant, she stepped onto the tree with him and felt it slowly lift her up and onto a balcony high above the forest floor. The balcony, also made of twisted tree trunk and branches, had a familiar door into the castle. The door, made out of old, worn looking wood was a welcomed sight after so many strange goings on.

"Open it Alice." Tarrant whispered into her ear, "You're home now."

Alice was so happy she could cry as she swung open the door. So much had changed, but at the same time, nothing had. That weathered old door wasn't just opening into the castle, it was opening into their home, their beautiful windmill home. Somehow the trees had picked up their home and incorporated it into the castle beautifully. As the door closed behind her and Tarrant, he wrapped her up into his arms and kissed her passionately as Alice let a tear roll down her face. Truly this was where Alice was meant to be, in the arms of the man she was going to marry, loving madness.

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><p>I'm in the works of writing a wedding chapter as a one shot story. It's going to be called Wedding Madness, so I hope you'll stick around for that. I'm also working on my AU fic, Mad as Rabbits, so I'd love to see you guys when I start posting that. Either way, thanks so so so so so so much for sticking with me, the reviews, and friendship have meant the world to me. I send all the luck and love in the world to you all, so fair farren for now, and I hope to see you all soon!<p> 


	21. Note

Normally I wouldn't add another writer's note, but a few people have been asking me if I'm continuing the plot line for this story. I am not. This story met its end, and I am very happy with the way it ended up. I have a separate wedding chapter on my profile that is a sequel to this story, and a separate wedding night chapter that follows that. Unfortunately at least for the time being, I do not have any plans to write about their life after the wedding (ex: children, growing old, etc). If I ever get a sudden burst of inspiration, I promise I'll get right to it and you will all be the first to know. I may rewrite and repost this story again someday (to smooth out some transitions and confusing points that I never really liked), and if I do, again, you'll be the first to know.

For those of you that have been loyal readers of mine since the very start I would like to say thank you once again. You're the reason I write, and you all have been so kind to me. I have recently posted a new story for Alice in Wonderland if any of you are interested in reading it. It is called "Mad As Rabbits" and is a Alice x Hatter story . It is going to be an ongoing multi-chapter fic, and it will probably be updated on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. While I'm on the subject, I will be posting new drabbles for Alphabetical Alice, my other Alice In Wonderland Fic. I hope to have the entire alphabet covered by winter.

Again, thank you for everything, and I hope you are all doing well. Lots of Love and Luck to you all!

-Emily (Jinx)


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